When Cats Play Hide And Seek
by Pantera-33
Summary: Grimmjow disguised as a human, sent to the human world to spy on Ichigo and not to kill him, but crosses paths with a princess from another dimension. Will it distract him from his mission? Full summary inside. GrimmjowXOC
1. Sent To Earth With A Bang

**Hey guys, I thought I'd do a different take on my OC and Grimmjow meeting, so it'll be a slight AU. Set before Aizen kidnaps Orihime so only Ichigo and Rukia are the only ones who have seen him.**

**Discalimer: I don't own any characters apart from my OC but if i did Grimmjow would be all mine!**

**Summary: Grimmjow's on a mission to spy and gather information for Aizen, really a rouse to get him out of Hueco Mundo for disruptive behaviour. Tsukiko, a princess from a different dimension is sent to the Human World accidentally. Their paths eventually cross but it's proved awkward to hide their true identities from one another, especially with Ichigo lurking around every corner.**

**Chapter 1: Sent to Earth with a Bang**

_**Las Noches, Hueco Mundo**_

Aizen was sitting patiently on his throne, looking down at Grimmjow. He had really outdone himself now. His fierce temper and violent ways were famous all over Hueco Mundo and usually his pointless fighting did not concern Aizen but his latest outburst was just one too many and now Aizen had a solution for it.

"Grimmjow, I have an important mission for you."

'_Finally a chance to finally kill that Kurosaki! About time if you ask me.'_ Grinned Grimmjow mentally.

"Yes?"

"This mission will test all your skills and requires cunning and stealth."

'_Stealth? Why sneak up on him? I wanna make sure he sees it coming.'_

"I want you…"

'_Yes! Here it comes!!'_

"To spend some time in the Human World and gather as much information as you can about Kurosaki Ichigo and his friends."

'_Yes…WHAT?!'_ Grimmjow's face dropped in shock and disappointment.

"Is there something wrong with what I said, Grimmjow?" Aizen stared at him intensely.

'_What's wrong with what you said? What's RIGHT with it more like?!'_

"No, Aizen-sama, nothing's wrong." He said through gritted teeth

"Good, I have prepared a special gigai for you, which you must remain in. I don't want you getting into any unnecessary fights and your presence must not alert Kurosaki Ichigo, so you must be discreet in collecting information."

'_This cannot be happening…'_

"So to blend in with society, Gin has found a place for you to stay and I suggest you get a job to pay for everything. From now on, you'll be an ordinary normal human."

'_Damn you Aizen!! What I wouldn't give to cut that condensing smirk right off your face and shove it-'_

"Do you understand?"

"Yes." Grimmjow grumbled. He could see out the corner of his eye Ulquiorra looking at him with- was that amusement in his eyes?! Before Grimmjow went over to Ulquiorra to rip his stupid green eyes out, Gin suddenly came into the room, dragging Grimmjow's gigai across the floor.

"Here ya go, Grimm-chan." Gin dumped the lifeless body at Grimmjow's feet

"What did you say?!" How he hated it when Gin called him that cutesy nickname.

"And here's ya assignment brief and cell phone so we can contact ya." Gin then handed Grimmjow a couple of pieces of paper and a blue flip phone, which he shoved into his pocket.

"This gigai is specially made to hide your reiatsu so it will be difficult for people to find you. And in case of extreme emergencies, here is this Soul Candy. Its standard shinigami equipment but I had Szayel modify it for espada uses." Aizen said, tossing him a candy dispenser to him. It was very colourful with a duck's head ontop. Grimmjow huffed and placed that in his other pocket.

"That will be all, you shall leave immediately."

**Same time in a different dimension**

"HIME-SAMA!! HIME-SAMA!!" A frantic servant was rushing around a giant palace, searching high and low for the elusive princess but she was nowhere to be found.

"Oh no, I'm in big trouble now." Wailed the poor woman, her hands to her face in despair. Suddenly a teenage girl came out of a room, flattening down her elegant purple flowered kimono.

"Hime-sama!" The woman bowed down in front of the girl.

"Where have you been?! The Emperor wishes for your presence immediately." The girl sighed.

"I only went to the bathroom."

"But you must have someone with you at all times!" Exclaimed the woman, trying to express the seriousness of the situation but the young girl didn't care.

"What a silly rule that is. Anyway let's go."

The pair stood in front of yellow sliding doors, awaiting the announcement of their arrival.

"Princess Sasaki Tsukiko is here to see the Emperor!" Shouted a royal guard. The doors slide open and the women entered and bowed low in front of the Emperor. The Emperor looked at Tsukiko and then turned to everyone else.

"Everyone is dismissed!" All the royal subjects bowed before scattering out the room, closing the doors behind them, leaving Tsukiko still bowed low in front of the Emperor. As soon as she heard the doors slam shut, she jumped up from her bowing position and sat crossed legged on the floor.

"Why have you called me here, Kenji-Nii?" She asked, quite annoyed because she wanted to go outside.

"I've been getting reports that you are frequently roaming around without your personal guard and causing them trouble."

"But I do not need one, can't I just go somewhere without someone breathing down my neck, telling me that 'Hime-sama can't do this' and 'Hime-sama shouldn't do that'. Can't you just tell them to back off a bit and give me some space?" Kenji looked at his little sister deep in thought.

"No."

"Why?" She exclaimed, getting up off the ground and walked over to him, standing in front of him.

"Because you are a princess and one day will be running this land, this is preparing you to be empress one day."

"But I want to be free, exploring this land, see what is actually out there instead of sitting around here bored. If I was back-"

"Enough." He said.

"But-"

"That's enough, Tsukiko! As your Emperor, I am telling you that that is enough out of you!" Tsukiko narrowed her eyes at her emperor brother.

"Ever since you became emperor, you've been nothing more than arrogant and inconsiderate. Can't you see? I don't want to live inside these walls without ever seeing what is on the other side! Father wouldn't allow that if he was alive!"

"Well he's not now is he?! And since he's not here I'm looking after you and your interests!"

"But you're not looking after my interests at all!"

"I am and you know it! What would happen if I let you see what is on the other side? You'll be an easy target for kidnappers and murderers!"

"I can take care of myself!"

"No you can't! Now stop acting like a spoilt brat and go to your room. I have nothing more to say to you." She gasped as her lip quivered but not in fear but in anger. She gave him one last glare and murmured "I hate you." And ran off.

"Tsukiko! Tsukiko!" She ignored him and carried on running. She ran past all the guards through the corridors and out of the manor into the gardens. There was chaos in the palace as everyone was searching for her but she didn't care as she climbed up into the trees using her long claws on her hands to help her and flipped over the tall wall and ran. She didn't know where but she ran and ran.

'_How could he be interested in my best interests? He's so busy being emperor that he hardly knows what I want at all. I just want to spend time with him like we used to when we were small, but all that's gone now.'_ She thought sadly. Too busy with her thoughts, she didn't notice a giant hole in the ground and in she tumbled, screaming in fear and screaming for her brother as the hole mysteriously closed itself up.

_**In an apartment somewhere in Karakura Town**_

"I have to admit, Gin has really proved his worth." Said Grimmjow, impressed with his new apartment which he will be living in for god knows how long. It was modest sized, got all the necessary stuff he needed to survive. He looked around the kitchen, small but clean. Opening the fridge, he saw it packed to the brim with food he had never seen before in his life. He moved his attention to the bedroom. Nice double bed, wardrobe, mirror and small television perched on top of some chest of drawers. Sighing he sat down on the bed and looked over at the papers Gin had given him. The aim of the assignment was written down on one piece of paper, he placed that on the bed and looked over the next paper. His cover story. He began reading it.

"Grimmjow Jaegerjaques, Spanish national. Born August 3rd 1986. 22 years old. Good age. Let's see. Came to Japan 10 years ago to live with father blah blah blah, completed high school and had several jobs blah blah blah. This is a lot of crap."

He tossed it on the bed and flicked through other documents and tossed those on the bed as well. Here he was; the 6th most powerful espada in Aizen's arrancar army and he was reduced to doing menial work and disguised as a human. Why didn't Aizen's personal ass kisser Ulquiorra do it? That's his expertise. Grimmjow ran a hand through his blue hair and suddenly touched the side of his face. It was so weird not to have his hollow jaw mask piece stuck to the side of his face. All he could feel was human skin. His abdomen now filled with organs and flesh instead of just being a giant hole. It was a weird feeling. Getting up from the bed, he walked over to the window and looked out. It was night and the town was alive with bustling people and shiny bright lights, a far cry from the dead depressing world of Hueco Mundo. He had a few things on his mind, mostly what he could do for fun here but the next thing was how he was going to survive here. He didn't know the modern cultural details, no money, well he had been given some money but only enough for a week, no clothes but he can work with this. It was in his nature to be able to survive in the toughest conditions. He needed a job if he was to be able to keep food in the fridge and clothes on his back. The assignment can wait, he was determined to have some fun.

_**Kurosaki Household, Karakura Town**_

"ICHIGO!! ME AND YOUR SISTERS ARE GOING TO THE RESTAURANT, YOU SURE YOU DON'T WANT TO HAVE SOME NICE QUALITY KUROSAKI FAMILY TIME?!"

"NO! I HAVE THINGS TO DO!" Ichigo could hear his father's wailing from all the way in his bedroom.

"THAT HURTS, MY SON! YOU WOUND DADDY'S HEART SO!!" A loud thump was heard and Karin's voice berating her overacting father.

"WE'RE GOING NOW ICHII NII, SEE YA LATER!!"

"BYE!" He shouted back to them. The door was slammed shut. Ichigo lay back on his bed and sighed.

'_Finally some peace and quiet.'_ He hadn't had a proper rest in quite a while. Hollows have been popping up less frequently, but he was more concerned about the arrancar. They have been quiet recently too, making Ichigo feel uneasy about what they might be up to next but one person he wanted to see again was Grimmjow. That blue haired bastard who randomly attacked the town and beat him to a bloody pulp. How he wanted to get his revenge on him and show him just how powerful he really was, since he was training with the Vizard. Rukia, Renji and the others occasionally show up from time to time but they were busy now preparing for the winter war but he couldn't think about stuff like that now, right now all he wanted to do was just stretch out on his bed and relax. He slipped his eyes closed and began to delve deep into a pleasant dream world. A sudden crash was heard as his ceiling caved in. He jumped from his bed in surprise as debris littered his bed and someone lying face down on his bed. At first he thought it was just Renji because he had a tendency not to use a thing called a window when visiting him but the person wasn't wearing a typical shinigami uniform, instead was a decorated purple kimono. Ichigo cautiously approached the bed.

"Errrr…are you alright?"

"Ow, that actual hurt." Said a soft female voice. Ichigo just watched in amazement as the girl struggled off the bed and dusted herself down, coughing from the dust. She looked around the room and gasped.

"Oh no, where am I?" she said frightened.

"Excuse me?" Ichigo thought it was best to make his presence known. She gasped, backing away from him.

"W-Who are you? Where am I?"

"I'm Kurosaki Ichigo and this is my room." He said clearly annoyed but who wouldn't be when a strange girl crashes through your bedroom ceiling. He looked at her properly now and noticed she was definitely not human. Cat like ears on her head and a white tail poking out behind her.

"Who the hell are you?" Demanded Ichigo. The girl bowed in front of him politely.

"Sasaki Tsukiko, princess of the Starlight Sky Panther Demon clan, nice to meet you…wait how come you don't know who I am? And why are you wearing such bizarre clothes? I have never met one of the loyal subjects before." Ichigo's mind was boggled at this information. Definitely clear she was not from this world but he doubted she knew that.

"So Tsukiko… where do you think you are now?"

"That's obvious, the Demon Realm of course." Oh dear, she really didn't know where she was.

"Well, hate to break it to ya but this ain't the Demon Realm."

"Of course it is, I fell down a hole in the Demon Realm and…" She stopped.

"What's wrong?"

"Ichigo you said your name was?"

"Yes?"

"Where…is here?" She asked nervously.

"Karakura Town. This is the Human World." Her eyes were as wide as saucers.

"Oh not again."

**Hope you like it so far, trying to set the scene. Reviews please. The pair will cross paths soon but just not yet. You'll just have to keep reading.**

**Next Chapter: Grimmjow gets a job but where?? Tsukiko explains all and sees a familiar face and Ichigo has got his work cut out hiding a princess in his house.**


	2. Mr Grimmjow Goes Job Hunting

**Thank you all for your lovely reviews. I've let him off a bit here but believe me as much as I love Grimmjow, his human world torture's gonna get worse further on in the chapters. Now here's chapter 2 and rating is for Grimmjow's dirty little mouth**

**Chapter 2: Mr Grimmjow goes Job Hunting**

Ichigo looked at her in confusion.

"Again?! What do you mean again?!" He asked but she was too busy looking around his room to even notice he was talking.

"This is truly fascinating. What sort of device is this?" She pondered, looking over at his MP3 player, shaking it about a bit.

"Oi! I asked you a question!" Shouted Ichigo, snatching it from her hands and putting it back in its rightful place.

"Oh, sorry. What was the question?" He sighed at her.

"I said what do you mean by 'not again'?"

"Oh that. Well I've been here a few times before."

"What?!"

"Yes, all of those times by accident, like just now, but there is a tiny problem." He didn't like where this was heading.

"What's this tiny problem?"

"I don't know how to get back." She said sadly. He had a feeling she would say that. Right now he just wanted to open up his window, stick his head out and scream at the top of his lungs, why does these type of things always happen to him?!

"Ermm Kurosaki-san, are you alright?" Her face was right up in his staring deep into his brown eyes. He jumped back in surprise.

"Call me Ichigo alright and yes I'm fine, just peachy." He grumbled and began pacing around his room. This was a problem. Ok he was used to hiding people in his house before but people he knew and they were shinigami anyway, not some cat princess from a different world. There must be something he could do.

'_Think, Ichigo, THINK!'_ His pace got quicker as he tried to think of a solution to this problem, then it dawned on him.

"Alright, I have an idea."

"Do you know how to get me back home?"

"No but I could ask someone who might."

"Yay! Thank you very much!"

"Don't thank me just yet." He walked towards his door then remembered something. He couldn't exactly walk out the house with her looking like that. He tutted and began rummaging around in his drawers.

"What are you doing?" She asked, watching him fling some clothes onto the floor.

"I can't let people see ya like that."

"Why not? Is it because of my ears?" She said touching the tip of her fluffy ears.

"Of course it's your ears! People would freak out!" He finally found something. Walking over to her, he placed a woolly hat on her head.

"Oh this is very comfortable." She said patting the black hat happily before being dragged out of his room.

_**Grimmjow's apartment**_

Lounging around on his red sofa, Grimmjow was flicking through the channels on the TV, trying to find something interesting. Luckily for him, Aizen had so kindly written him a manual on how to use the appliances in the apartment. How Aizen knew all this, he will never know but he was sort of grateful because he would have destroyed it all in a fit of rage not knowing how to use them. Right now, he stopped at a sports channel and began watching that for a bit, absorbing what the commentator was saying as some men passed a round shaped object to one another. One of the things on his assignment brief was to learn the lingo of, and I quote **'all the hip and happening young people of the town.'** Grimmjow couldn't believe Aizen would use such terminology but that's what he was doing now, absorbing as much information as his brain could hold to try and pass himself off as one of these 'hip and happening' young people. He flicked over again and began watching a random horror movie when his cell phone rang. He flipped it open and took the call.

"Hello?"

"Hello… Grimmjow." Said a low voice. Damn it was Aizen himself calling!

"Hello Aizen-sama, what can I do you for?" He said in the most polite voice he could muster.

"I was just checking to see if you settled in alright."

"Yes, I'm just fine." It seemed very odd and a bit creepy for Grimmjow to talk to Aizen without actually seeing his face.

"Excellent, I just wanted to tell you that I have not set a specific time span for your mission so you could be there for quite some time…"

'_Oh great.'_

"But I do expect some results at the end of it. I didn't send you there for a vacation, you understand?"

"Yes Aizen-sama." He said grumpily.

"Excellent. Good bye Grimmjow, I will be in touch." The last bit sounded very ominous as the phone line went dead.

"Stupid fucking Aizen." He grumbled throwing his phone onto the coffee table and continued to flick through the channels, trying to find something interesting to watch or at the very most keep him amused.

_**Elsewhere in Karakura Town**_

Ichigo huffed and puffed as the pair finally arrived at Urahara's shop.

"Ichigo, I never knew the Human World had gotten so much more dangerous since the last time I was here. All I had to worry about then was pistols and swords but those metal box things on wheels sure are deadly. If you weren't here to help me, I would have been dead for sure."

Ichigo just looked at her in exasperation. On the way there, she almost got ran over five times. She was so sure that she could just waltz across the road and the cars would stop for her but they didn't and Ichigo luckily managed to drag her back in time, especially when there was a high speed police car chase which sped past them. This was proving much too troublesome and she had only been here five minutes. He banged on the front door of the store.

"Sandal-Man, open up! It's Ichigo!" He repeatedly banged on the front door.

"Sandal-Man?" muttered Tsukiko curiously, wondering what this Sandal-Man would look like. The door finally slide open and a dishevelled hatless Urahara appeared before them.

"Ichigo, what a pleasure to see you but this is the middle of the night, what did you want to see me for?"

"I have a problem, a big problem-"

"Uncle Urahara?"

Urahara took his gaze from Ichigo to the person standing next to him and his face broke out into his big cheesy grin.

"Princess Tiki!" Tsukiko bounded at Urahara and hugged him tight. Ichigo was left to watch on in utter bewilderment.

'_Princess Tiki? What the heck's goin on?!'_

"Kurosaki-san, don't just stand there looking like a lost lamb, come in!" Chuckled Urahara. Ichigo shook his head and realised he was just left there on the front step whilst the pair was inside already. Grumbling he made his way inside, shutting the door behind him.

"Uncle Urahara, how are you, I have missed you very much!" She said excitedly, walking alongside him as they made their way to the back room.

"Oh Hime, you have grown up so much, haven't you!" He said as if talking to a baby, pulling her cheek.

"Uncle Urahara!" She whined swatting his hand away from her face. Urahara chuckled and motioned them to sit down by the table.

"Tea anyone?" Ichigo and Tsukiko shook their heads.

"Alright, Sandal-Man, what the hell is going on? How do you know her?!" This was all too weird, even for him.

"Calm down Kurosaki-san, I will tell you everything but it's quite a story"

"Well shorten it, I ain't got all night! I gotta get back before the family gets home."

"Alright then, here is the short story of how I met the delightful Hime-sama. Once upon a time-"

"Urahara…!" Ichigo said warningly, knowing he would end up telling the whole long winded story.

"Alright, alright. He's really such a stick in the mud, Tiki." Urahara said to the princess. Ichigo growled at the shop owner.

"Ok, ok. I'm serious now. We met when I was still a shinigami, I think it was over 200 years ago I think, well I met her and her mother in a town near here. They were being pursued by a hollow after it discovered the princess's high spirit energy."

"Spirit energy?"

"Yes, it's slightly different from the normal spirits that you encounter but still spirit energy none the less. Anyway, I was with my squad on routine mission when I found them both. Her mother was deep wounded and the hollow was ready to eat Tiki when I saved them both. Her mother recovered and well the rest is history but what I don't know is what happened to you after I left." He directed his attention to Tsukiko.

"We managed to get back to the Demon Realm and stayed ever since, well apart from the couple of times I came back and that was it."

"Well I'm glad you got back home safely."

"So wait a minute." Ichigo said, thinking through everything that was said.

"You know what shinigami are?" Tsukiko nodded her head.

"Are you a shinigami?" she asked

"Yeah."

"Well he's not a proper one." Butted in Urahara, tittering behind his fan.

"Excuse me?! I'm just as good as any other shinigami, if not better."

"But you're still a shinigami substitute." Mocked Urahara. Ichigo snarled at the man whilst he just chuckled at him.

"Ichigo, wasn't you going to ask him about the thing?" Said Tsukiko timidly.

"Oh damn yeah. So Urahara-san, do you think you'll be able to send her back home?" Urahara pondered for a moment.

"I'm sorry but I don't think I would be able to…" Tsukiko bowed her head in sadness. At this rate she would be here forever, never seeing her brother ever again.

"But I will try my best to find a way, so you will just have to wait around for a while." Tsukiko brightened at this news.

"Thank you Uncle Urahara."

"You're welcome and-"

"Alright then, that's sorted. I'll leave her with you then, I got to go home, nice seeing ya Tsukiko and good luck getting back home." Ichigo got up off the ground and made his way to the door.

"Kurosaki-san, I don't know where you think you're going because _you're_ going to look after her."

"What?! Why can't she stay here?" Ichigo said incredulous.

"Because I will be busy and you can show her around, get her used to life here because I don't know how long this will take." Said Urahara, a little smile played on his lips. He knew full well Ichigo was on a bit of a break. He couldn't have the young shinigami having too much free time on his hands.

"But before you go, I will sort you out some things that will be useful for your stay here, Tiki." Urahara said before going out the room, leaving the pair to reflect.

* * *

Couple of hours later Ichigo finally arrived back at home with Tsukiko, who was now occupying a gigai and carrying some necessary supplies for her in a bag.

"I'm home!" He called out but told Tsukiko to wait outside a moment.

"Why?"

"You'll see." Ichigo prepared himself and on cue, his father's loud voice and thundering footsteps was heard fast approaching.

"ICHIGO!! WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?! I KNOW YOU ARE OF A CERTAIN AGE AND WANT TO EXPLORE THE MYSTERIES OF LIFE FOR YOURSELF-"

"Shut it old man! We have company." He pushed his father away and motioned for Tsukiko to come in. Isshin just stared at her open mouthed like he was ready to just drop and have a heart attack any moment.

"So yeah dad, I found her in the alleyway after being mugged and she's new to the area so she doesn't really know her way around and stuff…" Ichigo kept on talking, hoping his moronic father would buy the cover story but all the while Isshin was just staring in disbelief and now Yuzu and Karin had come in to see what all the commotion was all about.

"So, can she stay for a while?"

"O-O-OF COURSE SHE CAN!! STAY AS LONG AS YOU LIKE…"

"Sasaki Tsukiko, very nice to meet you Kurosaki-san." She bowed politely to him.

"ANOTHER DAUGHTER IN THE FAMILY MASAKI!! HOW WONDERFUL!!" His father wailed in delight, hands reaching the heavens. Karin looked over at Tsukiko and Ichigo suspiciously, not wanting to believe the half baked story but what could she do? Yuzu was chatting rapidly to Tsukiko, who smiled and nodded at whatever she was saying. Suddenly Isshin stopped his wailing and pulled Ichigo roughly aside from everyone.

"Since when have you been so popular with the ladies son?! First the lovely Rukia-chan and now this beautiful young lady here, I hope you haven't been-"

"Get your mind out the gutter, you filthy old pervert! Come Tsukiko, you can leave your stuff in my room."

"His room??" Gasped Yuzu and Isshin together, eyes wide in shock.

"Stop it you two. Leave Ichi-Nii alone, what he does with girls is none of your concern. He is fifteen after all." Said Karin in a bored tone.

"NO!! I WON'T BELIEVE IT!!" Screamed Isshin

"ICHIGO WOULDN'T DO THAT!!" Wailed Yuzu. Both father and daughter were hugging one another in despair. Karin just shook her head in disgust and went out the room.

"You have a really nice family Ichigo." Smiled Tsukiko, sitting on his bed. It seemed when Ichigo was out, the family had come back and Isshin broke into Ichigo's room. Upon noticing the mess and hole in the ceiling, Isshin fixed it immediately.

"Yeah, they're ok." Ichigo began fixing up the closet which Rukia used to use when she stayed there.

"Alright, this is sorted for you to sleep in."

"I have to sleep now?" She said, looking at him questioningly.

"Yes, it's 11 o'clock."

"So?"

Ichigo was starting to get irritated.

"So its time to sleep. It's late!" He pulled off his t-shirt and put on his vest top.

"Ichigo?"

"What?"

"I have to tell you something…it's about my sleeping patterns."

"What about them?" He took of his trousers and put on his sleeping bottoms on and looked at her on the bed.

"Well you see, us cat demons don't sleep like humans. We don't require as much sleep as humans and… we don't sleep at night."

"So when do you sleep?"

"When the sunrises, that's when we sleep for five hours and then we sleep in the mid afternoon for one hour."

"That's strange." He said tiredly moving her aside and getting into bed. He had planned on taking her to school with him, if she's going to be asleep then he guessed she would have to stay here until he got back.

"Ichigo?"

"What now?"

"What am I suppose to do when you're asleep?"

He hadn't really thought of that. For many hours, she would be sitting around bored.

"Read some of my books over on my shelf. It'll help you with some aspects of our modern culture."

"Thank you very much." She said, before getting up off the bed and looking through his bookcase.

"Ichigo?"

"Seriously I need to go to sleep!!" He growled as he lay on his side.

"I just wanted to say good night." She said quietly. He heard her climb into the closet and close the door. He let himself smile slightly before going to sleep.

_**At Grimmjow's bachelor pad**_

Grimmjow woke up to his first morning in his new home. He had so many things to do, but first priority was to get some grub down him. Stretching underneath the blue covers, he groggily slipped himself out of bed and made his way out of the bedroom to the kitchen. He wasn't really sure what to eat because hollows didn't really eat food. He looked through the cupboards, trying to see what caught his eye until his eyes landed on a brightly coloured box. He pulled it out, looking over at the happy character displayed on the cereal box. It made him want to puke but he had no time to deliberate, he was a man on a mission, a hungry man on a mission. He pulled out a bowl from another cupboard and opened up the box, pouring the chocolate cereal flakes into the bowl. He couldn't be bothered to have any milk with it, he just ate the flakes as they were. He looked over at the list he left on the kitchen table and began to read it.

"Guide to Job Hunting by Aizen Sousuke. What a prick. What does he know about fucking job hunting anyway?!" He grumbled and carried on reading.

"First impressions are key, so dress to impress (Note: There is something in the wardrobe to help with that). Ok then. Next tip, don't be picky with what jobs you choose?! He can go to hell if he thinks I ain't gonna be picky!" He shoved some more cereal in his mouth with his fingers and read some more.

"When ya have a job interview, be polite, no swearing blah blah blah, this is a load of bullshit! I'll improvise!" He said, angrily screwing up the paper and chucking it in the bin. The possibility of him being nice and not being able to say a sentence without swearing was extremely low but he had to do it. He tipped the rest of the cereal in his mouth and made his way into the bathroom to have a nice refreshing shower.

* * *

The busy city centre was bustling full of morning commuters and shoppers but one person who stood out from all the rest was Grimmjow. Dressed in a blue shirt, black tie, jacket trousers and shoes, he grumpily pushed his way through the crowds, earning him disgruntled looks which he returned angrily with a few choice curse words and finger signals. He had a newspaper in his hand. Before he left the house, he had a little look through the paper and seen some adequate job advertisements that sounded interesting and now he made his way to his first job prospect.

"Ok, this is the place…" He looked at the sign. Yamamoto Industries. He strolled through the office doors, walking straight past the reception desk, ignoring the secretary calling him back. He really didn't know where he was going but he knew from watching all those television programmes that the top man was always on the top floor.

After walking up twenty flights of stairs, he finally made it to the top, cursing as he saw people coming out of the lift. He saw a big important looking door right at the end of the hall and began walking briskly towards it. He was so worked up; he was not going to leave without getting a job. Bursting through the doors, he strolled over to the middle aged man sitting in his chair, looking quite disturbed at a tall blue haired young man with a face like thunder, come barging into his office and approaching his desk. Grimmjow slammed his hands down on the desk and leaned over it.

"Alright old man, I'm here for a job and you better fucking give me one, got it?!"

Moments later, Grimmjow was looking at the concrete pavement.

"Fucking bastards! I didn't want to work there anyway!!" He shouted at the building before dusting himself off from the ground. Maybe he would have better luck with his next job. He looked over at his newspaper and randomly chose an advert.

"This looks alright."

But it wasn't. He managed to properly meet with the manager of a local fast food restaurant but the interview was terrible and it went something like this;

_"Hello, Mr Ja-Ja" The man looked at his name on the paper, squinting his eyes hoping it would make it easier to read his name._

_"It's Jaegerjaques, Grimmjow Jaegerjaques."_

_"Oh right, ok." The man swivelled in his black chair and peered at Grimmjow._

_"So what made you want to apply for this job?"_

_"Money." Grimmjow said bluntly._

_"Money, yes money is good." The man was clearly threatened by Grimmjow's appearance and demeanour._

_"And what skills do you think you could bring to this establishment?"_

_"Why are you asking me that when it says it all on my paper? Did you actually bother to read it?!" He was struggling to control his aggressive raw attitude. The man was starting to sweat a bit in his chair._

_"Y-Yes of course I've read it. Alright, as questions are a bit difficult, let me create a situation, you will be a serving me as a customer ok?"_

_"Alright."_

_'This should be easy.' Grimmjow thought as the manager got into character. They both stared at one another, waiting for the other one to speak._

_"Errr, Mr Ja-Ja-"_

_"Jaegerjaques dammit!"_

_"Y-Yes sorry, you're supposed to start."_

_"Well what am I suppose to say?!"_

_"You have to welcome the customer politely."_

_"Oh right ok." Grimmjow cleared his throat and prepared to be…nice._

_"Welcome to Karakura Burger Joint, can I take your order?" He said surprisingly well_

_"Gimme three cheeseburgers, four fries and two Cokes to go."_

_"Greedy- I mean would you like anything else with that?"_

_"No."_

_"Ok then your order will take-"_

_"No wait!"_

_"What?!" Grimmjow was getting annoyed._

_"Gimme two more burgers with that."_

_"Why didn't you say so before, you greedy little prick!!" He roared at the frightened man in the chair._

_"Please Mr Ja-Jaguar?"_

_"IT'S JAEGERJAQUES YOU DEAF FUCKER!!" Grimmjow stood up and loomed over the petrified man._

_"You know what?? Screw this job!" He stormed out the office, leaving the man almost fearing for his life._

* * *

It had been two hours and so far he had managed to screw up numerous job interviews.

He had tried another office job and he thought he would get the job for sure because the person interviewing him was a pretty attractive young woman. All he did was turn on the charm but he was thrown out and threatened with getting arrested for sexual harassment.

He tried a nearby nightclub, since it looked like fun but he soon ran for it when his interview turned into 20 questions about himself and what he did in his spare time and the interviewer even had the nerve to ask for his phone number. He was cool with that to a degree but things got out of hand when the interviewer, who was a good looking man began flirting with him and running his foot seductively up Grimmjow's leg. He told the man to firmly to keep his feet and his advances to himself and ran out the club.

He was running out of options fast. He had tried every single place, every place, well not every place but he didn't want to go to that place. He had walked past it many times but refused to go in, but then again he was desperate for money. Damn Aizen and that 'can't be too picky' rule. It was his pickiness that got him into this predicament so he was just going to have to forget about his pride and image for a moment and just get this job, it was his last chance.

Walking into the store, he looked around. It was clean but there weren't many people in there. He approached the desk and a skinny green haired man of his twenties grinned at him.

"I'm here for a job, so can I speak with the manager?"

"Sure dude, I'll just go get him." The young man disappeared into a room behind the counter as Grimmjow tapped on desk with his fingers. Soon the man appeared again.

"Come round, the manager wants to see ya." Grimmjow went round the back of the counter and through the door the green haired man went into and came face to face with an enthusiastic man, looked the same age as the green haired man. He was a bit on the large side with black and blonde floppy hair and thick blue rimmed glasses.

"Hey, sit down, sit down!" The man practically forced Grimmjow down on the chair opposite him.

"So dude, what's your name?" Said the blonde/black haired man, lounging on his chair.

"Grimmjow Jaegerjaques."

"Dude that is a kickass name!" The man was bursting with excitement over his name, it was unreal.

"Yeah, thanks."

'_What is with this guy?'_ Thought Grimmjow _'He's not like all the other managers I met. He's far too young and ugly but the way he is looking at me…he thinks I'm some sort of god! I can run with this.'_ He mentally grinned as the man continued talking.

"So I really don't wanna bore you with the details but if you want the job you can have it."

"Seriously?!" Grimmjow couldn't believe it. This was just too easy. Take that Aizen and your stupid job guide. All it took was his good lucks and cool attitude. Why didn't he do that from the beginning.

"Yeah, so if ya wanna, you can have it. We'll give you training of course but it's not that much."

"Alright then."

"You'll take the job?!" The man was practically dancing in delight.

"Yeah."

"Brilliant! I think you will fit in right at home here! Just a bit of a personal question, what kind of games do you like playing?"

"Games? Well to be honest-"

"Because there's this brilliant game that will be coming out soon. I already have the first game but I've already mastered all the levels including using cheats but to really optimize game performance, I had to reroute the…"

Grimmjow just stopped listening. This was too much for him. If he had to spend his days listening to all this computer lingo then he'd rather be Ulquiorra's bitch for all eternity than listen to this geek.

"Actually, I think I might not take this job."

"What?" The man stopped speaking and looked at Grimmjow with puppy dog eyes.

"I don't think this is the job for me, sorry but ya gotta find someone else." Grimmjow began walking over to the door

"Please don't go!!" Begged the man. "Please! I-I'll double your pay." Grimmjow paused at the door. Maybe he could squeeze some more money out of chubby bags here. He twisted the door knob.

"Triple your pay!" The door knob twisted further.

"Triple your pay plus bonuses!!" That was more like it. Grimmjow released his grip on the door knob and turned round to smirk at the chubby man.

"I guess I could stay."

"Thank you! Thank you ever so much!" The man shook Grimmjow's hand vigorously.

"I'm Tanaka Kenichi but everyone calls me Kenny."

"Alright Kenny, can I have my hand back?"

"Oh yeah sorry." Kenny dropped Grimmjow's hand.

"I'll introduce you to the rest of the employees in a bit but I'd like to formally welcome you to Gaming Planet!" Kenny showed him a black bowling shirt with the sign Gaming Planet on the back. It looked a bit tacky but he was glad it was in black and not some horrible colour like yellow. Grimmjow forced a smirk on his face. What had he let himself in for??

**There you have it. Grimmjow's managed to get himself a job at a game store! Well Done Grimm. Reviews please my lovely readers.**

**Next chapter: Grimmjow has an interesting days work and Tsukiko goes on an wild adventure when Ichigo's at school, resulting in her first encounter with Grimmjow.**


	3. Daytime Madness

**Thanks for the reviews, much appreciated as always. I had a bit of a writers block lately but I still managed to do this chapter. Enjoy!**

**Chapter 3: Daytime Madness**

Across Karakura Town as Grimmjow was busy on his quest for the perfect job, someone else was going on a quest of their own.

_**Ichigo's House**_

"GOOD MORNING! ICHI-GO!!"

On time as always, Isshin flew right into Ichigo's room through his window but somehow missed the bed and hit the closet door.

"Damn it old man! Keep it down! She's sleeping in there!" Ichigo said angrily, getting out of bed. Isshin looked at his son in surprise and mild disgust.

"How could you let a beautiful young girl sleep in your closet?! Why not offer her your bed like a good boy!! How ashamed I am to raise such an ill-mannered son!!" He wailed before Ichigo kicked him in the face.

"She wanted to sleep in there! Now get the hell out so I can get changed!" He roughly shoved his dad out of his room. Ruffling his orange hair, he plodded over to the closet when he heard a soft purring noise from inside. He pulled back the door and there, lying in mass of open books and magazines was Tsukiko, curled up like a cat, sleeping soundly.

'_How she slept through that, I don't know' _Ichigo sighed. He began to think about what she might do when she wakes up while he's at school. He quietly closed the door and began to get changed into his school uniform.

'_I should leave her a note. Tell her where I'll be.'_ He began scribbling a quick note on a post-it note and stuck it on his bedroom door before exiting.

* * *

Hours later and Tsukiko finally emerged from the closet, stacks of books and magazines in her hands as she placed them back in their rightful places. She looked around the room and found Ichigo nowhere to be seen.

"Ichigo? Ichigo?" She called out whilst wondering around the room, even though it was obvious he was not in there. Stopping at the door, she noticed the post-it note and began to read it.

"_Tsukiko, I've gone to school. STAY in the house! Ichigo_" She took the note of the door and sat on the bed.

"What am I suppose to do for all this time?" She sighed and began looking around his room for something to do. Her eyes settled on his television.

"He has a telly-vision like what I read in those books!" She said excitedly. Rushing over to it, she began trying to work out how to turn it on. Tapping on the sides and top, clapping, telling it to turn on, she tried everything, until she noticed some buttons.

"Maybe it's one of these…" She pushed a button and the television turned itself on. She stepped back in surprise as the picture on the television came on.

"It worked." She said happily and sat down on the bed to watch some cartoons.

_**Karakura School grounds**_

"Earth to Ichigo!" Renji's hand waved in front of Ichigo's spaced out face. Ichigo quickly slapped it away before continuing to drink his juice.

"What is wrong? You've more spaced out than normal." Said Rukia

"What do mean 'more than normal'?!" Growled Ichigo. Rukia just ignored him. Since the random attack on Karakura, Hitsugaya's team have been attending the school whilst dealing with any hollows that turned up and right now Renji, Rukia, Ichigo and Orihime were having their lunch outside on the school grounds.

"It's alright to be spaced out Kurosaki-kun, I do it all the time and it never does me any harm." Smiled Orihime, whilst eating another one of her monstrosities that she classed as a meal. You could see the sweat drip down everyone's faces.

"Nah, I have just got some princess stuck in my closet at home so I'm a bit worried what the hell she might be up to."

"A princess? Is that what you call all the girls, Ichigo?" Chuckled Renji, earning him a glare.

"You idiot, she really is a princess, as in royalty."

"How did this situation come about?" Rukia asked.

"She somehow came to this world from this Demon Realm."

"Demon Realm? I have never heard of that before." Pondered Rukia.

"Yeah well she's staying with me until Urahara-san can find a way to send her back. This is such a pain." He sighed.

"Well you know, it can't be all that-"

"Ichigo! There you are!" Ichigo paled when he heard a voice from the bushes.

"No, no, no, NO!" He moaned, turning his head to see the person he told specifically to stay at home walking happily towards him.

"Is that her?" Whispered Rukia as everyone stared at the girl. Ichigo nodded before standing up to meet her.

"What are you doing here?! I told you to stay at home!!" He growled angrily at her.

"I did but I was quite bored after reading everything you have and watching the telly-vision. I've learnt quite a lot about this world but I just wanted to come find you. It took a while but a kind lady directed me here." He was about to tell her off some more when Orihime bounded over, unable to contain her curiosity and came to introduce herself, the rest of the gang sneakily followed her.

"Hello, my name's Inoue Orihime, what's your name?" She said giving her a low respectable bow. Tsukiko looked at her curiously before bowing to Orihime.

"Sasaki Tsukiko, Princess of-"

"You know you shouldn't say that." Interrupted Ichigo

"Why not?"

"Because you'll sound like a weirdo. Say it to these guys because they're shinigami but just your name for everyone else."

"Oh ok. Orihime? That is a very pretty, princess name." Smiled Tsukiko happily

"Why thank you." Orihime blushed.

"Oh there are more people, hello." Tsukiko said happily to Rukia and Renji.

"Hello, I'm Kuchiki Rukia" Rukia nodded at her

"I'm Abarai Renji." Renji held up his hand to her.

"Wow you both have lovely hair especially you Renji, its red like the hair of the legendary Matsudo of the fire cat demon clan." She said, getting right up into Renji's face and suddenly touched the ends of his spiky ponytail.

"Errr… thanks."

"Alright, you've had your fun now, time you went back home." Said Ichigo, dragging her away from Renji and the rest of the group and frog marched her towards the school gates.

"But Ichigo-"

"Go back home." He said sternly, pointing over to the gate. Tsukiko sighed and sadly walked away. She really wanted to have some fun but it seems that Ichigo was busy and definitely not in the mood. She stopped at the gate and saw some cars drive past when she remembered.

"I don't remember the way to get back to his house." She shook her head at her own stupidity.

"Oh well, my chance to explore!" She said excitedly and walked off in the direction of the town centre.

* * *

The town centre was buzzing with life, full of people having a leisurely time shopping and lunchtime business people having lunch. Tsukiko was wandering around like a kid in a sweet shop. The colours, the sounds, the shops filled with things she would never even imagined existed and it was all at her disposal.

"Where shall I go first??" She said rubbing her hands with glee, trying to search out a shop but was suddenly ambushed by a man dressed in a shirt and trousers, a wide grin on his face, rubbing his hands together.

"Excuse me Miss but today is your lucky day! Would you be interested in having this car right here?" He said pointing to a red sports car. She blinked at him before taking a look at it. It was a strange looking car to her but very nice.

"Yes indeed, are you going to give it to me?"

"No not yet because-"

"Why not? I said I wanted it and yet you are not going to give it to me when I asked for it? You are indeed a strange man." She said, frowning at the man.

"I know but there are a few things we need to clear up first."

"Clear up? What is there to clear up? Let me take my car please."

"No I-"

"Listen to me, _you_ were the one asking if I wanted it and now you refuse to hand it over? What kind of man are you?!" A crowd was beginning to form as the disagreement looked like it was going to get ugly.

"But you don't understand-"

"I understand plenty! What kind of world is this that allows men like him to con a young lady out of a car?!" She said to the crowd, who nodded in agreement and rounded on the salesman.

"Yeah, what kind of man are you?!"

"Preying on innocent, beautiful young girls like that! It's disgraceful!"

"Just give her the car dude!"

The crowd was getting rowdy and looked like any moment was ready to attack the man, when he suddenly shouted.

"Alright! Alright! You can have the car, for free! Just don't hurt me!"

"That was all you had to do. There was no need for this to go as far as it did." The man went over and fetched some paper work from his briefcase which stood by the car and sadly began signing over the car to her.

* * *

"Ichigo will be so happy with me for getting a car; it shall be a thank you present for letting me stay at his house. And to think he told me to stay at home? There are so many weird and wonderful people here to meet and talk to." She said happily. It had been a few hours and already she had managed of no fault of her own to get a free chocolate bar, become a counsellor and resolve a confrontation between a young couple, fetch a rogue balloon flying off into the sky for a little child, have a meal with a man she never met before for pulling him out of the way of a speeding car (The man paid for the whole meal) and got a job at a coffee shop as a cleaner. This was truly a wild day for her and she met so many people, most of whom were just happy to help her out and vice versa. She wandered around in a daze, wondering what other random people she would meet when she suddenly stopped outside a shop. She didn't know why but she just couldn't help but stare through the shop window as she noticed a vibrant head of blue hair. She looked closer through the window. His back was to her as he was stocking shelves but she just had to go in, just to see what he looked like.

_**A few hours before**_

Finally he had a job. Not a job he particularly wanted, no wait, scratch that, a job he never, ever, EVER wanted in a gazillion years! But now armed with tacky work shirt and a salary higher than the managers under his belt, he was ready to take on anything that was going to be thrown at him, maybe even throw some back if it was so bad.

"Alright Grimm, can I call you Grimm?" said Kenny excitedly.

"No."

"Ok then, Grimmjow, now that training is all done, how about a practise day to get you settled in. It may be daunting and scary, working with new people in a new environment-"

"Not really."

"Oh right, but ermm, yeah I'm sure you'll be ok. How bout starting off on the checkout?" Grimmjow just snorted at Kenny before strolling round the counter. How he hated this already. Just standing behind a till, waiting for someone to actually buy something but his waiting was filled with adequate conversations with the green haired man, whose name was actually Yoshi. Right now the conversation took a turn into Bordomville for Grimmjow as games kept cropping up.

"So, what games do you like?"

"I don't play games." Yoshi stared at Grimmjow as if he came down from the Planet Zog.

"Dude are you serious?! I will have to show you exactly what ya missing out on."

'_I doubt I would be missing out on anything apart from a social life.'_ Thought Grimmjow.

The shop was slowly coming to life as shoppers, mostly teenage boys came in to see what new games were out and ready to be snapped up. Through half lidded eyes, Grimmjow was staring at the excited geeky looking boys, searching through the rows of games. Suddenly a boy about 14/15 years of age came up to the counter and stared at Grimmjow.

"Yeah, whadda ya want kid?" He said roughly. He was hoping for as little human contact as possible.

"Do you sell scart leads for the Nintendo Wii?" The pair just stared at one another. Grimmjow had no idea what this kid was talking about.

"So do ya have any or not?" The boy said rudely. Since Grimmjow was not used to people being so rude to him like that and not getting what they deserved seconds later, he didn't know what was appropriate for this situation.

"No, we don't have any."

"Then what's that over then?" Pointed the smug brat over Grimmjow's shoulder at a whole stack of scart leads.

"Wires."

"What?"

"Ya asked what that over there was and I told ya they're wires."

"I know that and I said I wanted one, so go and get one." This brat of a human boy was really stretching his calmness to the absolute maximum.

"Where's ya manners?"

'_Ya cheeky little brat!'_

"I left them at home."

"So go home and get them, until then I ain't giving you anything." The two of them gave silent evil looks as they faced each other off like a western shoot out. Stern blue eyes bore into cheeky brown eyes for a good few minutes.

"So, are ya gonna give me it then?"

"Are ya gonna get your manners?" The boy's face began to falter under the intense scrutiny.

"Whatever, I'll get it somewhere else. At least the staff won't be as big a jackass as you are." That done it now. The kid really pushed his button now. No filthy human boy insults Grimmjow Jaegerjaques and gets away with it. If he wasn't in this stupid gigai, he would have made fruit salad out of this boy but since he couldn't do that, he had to find an alternative way to exact revenge. Grimmjow calmly left his till, grabbed one of the leads and went round the counter and over to where the boy was standing. The boy was suddenly quaking in his shoes. He didn't realise how tall Grimmjow actually was since he was slouching all over the counter.

"So ya little cocky ass bastard, I have a question for ya. Do ya still want ya shitty little lead?" He said menacingly, leaning his face into the boy's, giving added 'crap in ya pants' fear factor. The boy's mouth was flapping open and shut, words unable to come out his mouth.

"I'll take that as a yes." Smirking, he ripped open the package and stretched out the lead dangerously as everyone stopped to watch the horror that was going to unfold. As quick as could be, Grimmjow grabbed the boy by the collar and chucked him on the floor and exacted his punishment. Moments later, he dragged the boy by the collar to the door and kicked him in the ass out the shop, leaving the boy in hysterical tears.

"Go cry home to ya mom! And don't let me see ya little ugly face here again otherwise next time I'll shove that lead straight up ya ass!" He shouted at the boy, watching the boy waddle down the street, since Grimmjow tied up his hands at one end and tied the other end on the belt loop on the back of the boy's trousers. He could have done worse but maybe next time. He turned back round to see everyone in the store looking at him in complete horror and astonishment.

"What are ya all looking at?! Do ya want what that little brat got cuz there's plenty to go around!" He roared at them all. They shook their heads and went back to whatever it was they were doing. Grimmjow stalked back round the counter and back behind his till. Yoshi was nervously looking at him out the corner of his eye.

"Got sumat to say, grass head?!"

"Nope." He said quickly. Grimmjow just shook his head.

"Who the hell's next??"

_**The Present**_

Now here he was, stacking shelves since interaction with people was not his forte. He had already broken up a fight with two boys when they were fighting over who should have the last Halo 3 game but then got into the fight himself when the boys stupidly rounded on him after he called it shit and they shouldn't be fighting over it. They were both slapped round the head and thrown out the shop. He had to endure more pointless conversations with Kenny, who was so desperate to act cool in front of Grimmjow or for Grimmjow's coolness just to rub off onto him, that it just made him look even more geekier than he already did. Grimmjow had to decline many times to join in the weekly Halo night with the rest of the staff.

"But we order pizza and drinks and play for 5 straight hours and-"

"Don't say anymore."

And to go to the Anime convention that was in town next month.

"But it will be fun."

"As fun as sticking a sword in my gut."

He was officially surrounded by blithering, geeky weirdos, who regarded him as the God of Cool. They would happily bow down to him given half the chance. But right now all he was concentrating on was making the pyramid of games for the release of a new role play game.

* * *

The store was empty now, just how he liked it. Yoshi had gone off on his break to get everyone some coffee and now a pink haired, tattooed woman only known to him as 'L' was busy in the stock room. She didn't seem as game obsessed as the others but then again, she wasn't really one for talking. Reminded him of Halibel. The automatic doors slid open and Grimmjow sighed, wanting the peace and quiet of no customers to last a bit longer but to no avail. He continued stacking his pyramid as he heard quiet footsteps wonder around the shop but he sensed something else. He paused in his activity to take a good look. He sensed a strange reiatsu, not one of a shinigami, hollow or special human but something else. Turning his head, he saw a white haired girl in flared jeans, a white t-shirt and wedges, hair tied up in a ponytail with a red scarf around her head looking at the stock curiously. He also saw Kenny out the corner of his eye, hyperventilating at the sight of a beautiful girl gracing her presence in the shop. Shaking his head, Grimmjow carried on stacking.

"Excuse me?"

He turned around to see the girl beaming at him with a game in her hand.

"Yeah?"

"I wonder if you can tell me what this is?" Her sparkling purple eyes were looking into his azure eyes curiously. He had to admit she was a bit of a looker.

"It's a game."

"A game? But it's just a box, how can this be a game?"

"There's a disc inside." He took the box from her and opened it up, showing her the disk.

"I see." She looked at the disc in such fascination, Grimmjow knew she wasn't human because she was as clueless about human things as he was.

"Warcraft! Excellent choice!" Came a loud voice from behind her. Letting out a surprised squeal, she backed away but in doing so she tripped over on Grimmjow's foot and fell back. It all happened so slowly. Grimmjow and Kenny watched as she fell back. Her face was a mixture of surprise and fear but Grimmjow was silently praying, praying she didn't hit his masterpiece but he soon gave up as she was heading into his pyramid. An hour's work and he actually was pretty proud of himself and considered it a masterpiece. No one was going to destroy it! He slowly tried to grab hold onto her wrist but it was too late. Her body collided with the stack and it all tumbled down to the ground. The destruction of his work of art. An hour's work all scattered on the floor, thanks to this girl.

"Are you alright?" Said Kenny, helping up Tsukiko off the ground.

"Yes I'm fine thank you but I'm really sorry about that." She rubbed her arm nervously. Grimmjow was on his knees, verging on a meltdown. Today was really not his day at all. Kicked out off numerous job interviews to end up in this dump, bratty teenagers giving him cheek and now some clumsy girl knocked over his display. He couldn't take it and it has only been a day. One measly day! How he was cursing Aizen right now.

"I'm really sorry Mr. Here let me help you put it back together again." The guilty girl was beginning to pick up the game boxes off the floor.

"Put those down, you stupid girl! Ya ruined my display with ya fucking clumsiness!" He snarled at her.

"I said I'm sorry, please at least let me help-"

"Get out!! Get the hell out!!" He grabbed her by her shoulders and ushered her out the shop. Tsukiko was too shocked to say anything at all. Never in all her life had she been treated so badly by someone. Though she is a princess, she never acted like one, almost resenting her royal heritage and wished to be treated like a normal person not some fragile object but she did wanted to be treated with some respect at least but this was just shocking. She just stood outside the shop, watching the blue haired man shouting and throwing some of the games at the chubby man that caused her to knock over the display in the first place. Such anger and fierceness. Any normal person would have been angry and upset especially since she offered to help him, but she wasn't.

'_He seems like such a lonely man.'_ She thought as she watched him try to recreate the display again by himself.

'_And looks like he could use some cheering up.'_ She suddenly yawned, feeling very tired.

"Must find Ichigo's house now before he gets mad at me for wandering off." She said walking off.

* * *

Plodding along the street, Tsukiko was still wondering about the angry blue haired man. He really had made an impression on her, more than anyone she had ever met before. He was like a character in a book she read. One of the tortured souls who would lash out at the world to hide his inner torment, but she might be reading too much into the situation and she had only just met him for a couple of minutes but one thing was for sure, it wasn't going to be the last time she saw him. Her eyelids suddenly tried to close.

'_Oh no, not yet, I must get back to his house first. Come on body, don't give up on me just yet.'_ She was sloppily walking all over the pavement, bumping into people before her legs couldn't take any more and she just collapsed.

* * *

"I'm home!" Ichigo called out.

"MY SON!! YOU LEFT SCHOOL EARLY JUST TO SPEND TIME WITH ME!!" Isshin came flying out of the living room but crashed into the kitchen as Ichigo just side stepped out the way.

"Stupid old man! School closed early cuz someone flooded the toilets."

"Ichi-Nii, come here!! Tsukiko-chan is on the news!"

Ichigo's eyes widened in horror as he dashed into the living room. Yuzu and Karin were sitting on the couch, watching the news unfold on the telly.

"**This is a very unusual situation. As I speak, a young woman is lying right in the middle of the road, sleeping, causing major disruption to the afternoon rush hour. Police are at the moment working out the best course of action to quickly and safely remove the woman from the road.**"

Ichigo's eye twitched in annoyance.

'_I told her to go back home! Damn that girl!'_

"Ichi-Nii, aren't you going to do something?" Said Yuzu hopefully. He really couldn't leave her lying there and it would be troublesome if she managed to get herself arrested AND she was his responsibility at the moment.

"Yeah, yeah, I'll go and get her." He sighed before grabbing his jacket and dashing out the house.

* * *

The crowd was kept back by yellow barriers, watching the drama unfolding on the road. Police officers were trying to take her off the road but it seemed like she didn't want to be disturbed as she lashed out in her sleep at anyone who tried to move her. Ichigo was finally on the scene, pushing his way to the front through the vast crowd.

"Excuse me!!" He shouted to a police officer, who just ignored him.

'_Fair enough'_ Ichigo climbed over the barrier and ran over towards Tsukiko.

"Oi kid! Get back behind the barrier!" Some police officers began chasing him.

"I'm her friend!! Please just let me take her back home!" They all stopped. The police officers deliberated over this and agreed to let him try and move her. He approached her sleeping form in the middle of the road and knelt down close to her.

'_How on earth did she manage to fall asleep in the middle of the road!?'_ He gently tapped her on the shoulder and whispered in her ear.

"Tsukiko, Tsukiko, wake up." He heard her groaning in her sleep. It was working. He shook her shoulders roughly.

"Tsukiko! Wake up now…you're embarrassing me!" He grumbled. This was highly embarrassing and will be no doubt the news of the day tomorrow at school since all the TV cameras were pointing at him. Her face turned into a frown and began mumbling things in her sleep. Ichigo was getting desperate. He didn't want to stay too long, feeling unusually self conscious.

"Dammit, Tsukiko WAKE UP!"

_**Smack!**_

"yawn That was a good sleep, oh hey Ichigo." She beamed at him. He glared at her and silently pointed to the hand mark on his cheek.

"Did I do that?" Ichigo nodded.

"I'm so sorry."

"Save that for later, right now we need to get out of here." Tsukiko looked around and remembered what happened and where she was.

"Oh no, Ichigo, I'm really sorry."

"I know. Just come on." He pulled her up off the ground and made a dash for it through the crowd and back home.

_**Ichigo's room**_

"What were you thinking?!" Yelled Ichigo, still baffled at how a person could fall asleep in the middle of a busy road.

"I wasn't really thinking anything." She said, tapping her fingers on the bed.

"Obviously."

"I just felt really tired and I was trying to get back here but I just fell asleep. I told you I sleep in the afternoon." He looked at his watch and it was after four. He had a feeling things were going to be troublesome.

"Oh yeah Ichigo, I have a present for you!" Ichigo looked at her suspiciously, not liking where this was heading.

"I got you a car!"

"WHAT?!" He almost stumbled into his bedside table in shock and surprise.

"I thought you would be happy, since it's a thank you present."

"But how…how!!"

"A man gave it to me."

"People don't just give away cars like that."

"Well that man did but he was very tricky. He tried not to give it to me but he did and for free and it's coming in a few days, oh and I have a job!"

"WHAT?!" He may be a healthy teenager but he felt like his heart was ready to give up on him with all the surprises she was giving him.

"I want to feel useful while I'm here and I will get bored while you're asleep, so I got a job cleaning up at this place which sells hot beverages but its not tea, it began with a 'c'."

"You mean coffee."

"Yes! Coffee. What a strange name but I'm going to be a cleaner at a coffee place!"

"I don't think that's a good idea." Sighed Ichigo, not wanting her let loose in an unfamiliar place, with unfamiliar people, who could take advantage.

"Ichigo, please, I can take care of myself." She looked at him with a stern determined look. Ichigo relented.

"Fine but you can take my phone with you if anything happens you can call me."

"Is that one of those phones which you can take anywhere?"

"Yes."

"Oh ok, thank you Ichigo…oh one more thing." Ichigo sighed again.

"What is it?"

"Can I borrow some money?" He looked at her strangely.

"Why?"

"Because I saw in a shop this pretty thing which I found out was called a 'cack'-"

"You mean cake."

"Yes that's right, a cake and I wanted to buy it for…Uncle Urahara." She said. Ichigo noticed the pause but decided not to pursue it.

"Alright."

"Thanks, I'll pay you back."

"Don't bother." Ichigo sat at his desk and began flicking through his magazine. Tsukiko sat on the bed, a tiny smile played on her lips as she began thinking of the angry blue haired man in the game store who had interested her so much.

**Chapter 2 done! YAY!! Thanks for reading, review as always people. I'm off to watch the latest Bleach episode, woohoo!!**

**Next Chapter: Grimmjow gets a gift, the game store geeks' show him their kind of fun and could his cover be already blown? **


	4. Halo plus Grimmjow equals Insanity

**Sorry for the late update! Please don't be mad! Anyway, no more delays, here's chapter 4**

**Chapter 4: Halo + Grimmjow equals Insanity **

The sun was shining over Karakura Town, the birds were chirping in the trees and people were walking around, sunglasses on, happily basking in the rays. The only person who wasn't enjoying themselves was Grimmjow. He watched in loathing as everyone cheerfully wandered around the town, fanning themselves or having cooling ice-creams and drinks. As he miserably made his way to his new Human Gaming Hellhole AKA Gaming Planet, he began thinking about what terrible things were going to happen to him today because he knew without a doubt his torment was far from over but also, every so often, the face of the clumsy girl who came to the shop yesterday kept coming into his mind. She was truly interesting and not just in appearance. Her reiatsu had been bothering him for awhile but it was probably nothing and but strangely enough, though not human, she seemed to act like the humans he was forced to live among; happy, cheerful and annoying so it was nothing for him to worry about, besides he was here to get information on that orange haired shinigami brat. He pushed open the door to his Human Gaming Hellhole and instantly came face to face with Geeky Human Tormenter: Chubby Bags AKA Kenny.

"Yo, Grimm. How are ya?" He beamed right in Grimmjow's face.

"Fine." He grumbled, pushing Kenny's face away and walked over to the counter.

"Oh yeah, there was something left for you outside the shop." Said Kenny. Grimmjow raised an eyebrow in curiosity but said nothing. Mysterious Could Be Tormenter: The Human Halibel AKA L, came from the backroom, carrying a big blue box, wrapped in a white bow and placed it on the counter in front of him. There was a note attached to it which he took off the box and read.

"To Mr Blue Haired Guy." He sighed, opened it up and read what was inside.

"Sorry for making you angry yesterday, please accept this gift as my deepest apologies."

"How nice. No name either. Must be a Secret admirer, Grimmjow." Said L, a tiny smile on her face. She's turned from being his Mysterious Could Be Tormenter, to his Mysterious Eventual Tormenter in a matter of seconds.

"Whatever." He had an inkling it was from clumsy girl.

"Come on, open it! Open it!" Kenny was bursting at the seams with interest and excitement. Grimmjow pulled at the bow and lifted up the top of the box.

"Wow, that looks nice!" Drooled Kenny.

"What the hell is it?" Grimmjow looked at it in distain

"It's a cake." Said L

"A cake?" Grimmjow raised an eyebrow.

"Don't you know what it is?"

"Of course I do! Just… surprised that's all." Lied Grimmjow. He didn't know what the hell a cake was. It sounded like something nice though.

"Grimm? C-Can I have a slice, please?" Begged Kenny, positively salivating at the sight.

"I thought you were on a diet." L looked at him suspiciously.

"One slice ain't gonna hurt." He rushed to his office and grabbed one of his dinner knives that he kept in his drawer for some reason or another. Back at the counter, he began strategically cutting the cake into slices. Grimmjow reluctantly grabbed a slice before he didn't get the chance to since Kenny was already diving in, grabbing up the slices with his greedy hands. Sweet white frosting with fruits on top and in between the sponge layers. Grimmjow took a bite, chewing on it. It was a bit too sweet for his tastes but it was surprisingly nice, not that his face showed it.

"Oh yeah, Grimm, we're closing up early today." Kenny said through mouthfuls, spraying Grimmjow with bits of cake

"Why?" He grumbled, wiping off the cake from himself

"We all have to go and some supplies."

"All of us?"

"Yep."

"Oh Great." Grimmjow angrily took a bite out of his cake slice, not sure whether going to get supplies was a good thing or not but it didn't sound like fun, sounded like hard work. He glanced out the window briefly to a flicker of white hair turning around the corner and felt that strange reiatsu.

'_That girl.'_ He thought.

_**Random Apartment Building in Karakura Town**_

Thanks to the aid of Kenny's old banger of a car, or The Kennymobile as he insisted they called it, they arrived at an apartment block. They all piled out the car, Grimmjow looked at the building suspiciously.

'_This kinda looks like where I live. So you get supplies from apartments?'_ He thought but then an even strange thought came in his head.

'_Maybe they go round stealing from people's homes and sell them in the shop. They are more craftier than I thought…Sweet!'_ He grinned as he happily followed the pair into the building.

"So whose place are we going to get some things from first?" Grimmjow's hands rubbed together at the prospect of a bit of snatch and grab.

"Ermmm, I'll tell you when we get there." Said Kenny confused. They climbed a few flights of stairs and walked along the corridor until they came to a door at the end of the corridor. Kenny gave a succession of coded knocks on the door. Clicks and tingles of chains and locks being opened for a good few minutes before the door creaked open and a guy's face peered through.

"Who are you?"

"Come on, it's me Kenny."

"How can I be so sure? You could be a mutated alien being with the ability to be able to shape shift and you just so happen to turn into my friend Kenny so you can gain access to my apartment and eat my brain." The man said, narrowing his eyes in suspicion.

"Who would want to eat your fluff for brains? Just open the door." Said L calmly, staring into the man's brown eyes.

"L! My darling mysterious goddess of the-"

"Let us in." She wasn't in the mood for this.

"Your wish is my command." The door flew open and he bowed in front of them as they all walked in. The man closed the door and turned to face the group.

"I've ordered the pizzas; it should be coming in precisely… 10 minutes, if not we get it free… Who are you?" The man walked over to Grimmjow, eyeing him up.

"He's alright. He's one of us." Smiled Kenny, sitting down on the couch.

'_One of us? In your dreams, chubby bags!'_

"Great, why didn't you say you were bringing someone. He's going to ruin our Halo afternoon! There are suppose to be four players and how many of us are there?" The man moaned, looking over at Kenny, L and Yoshi, who had been there for some time. Grimmjow already dislike this guy already.

"There's five of us that's what!!" He screeched, pointing at them all.

"Get over yourself Moo Moo." Sighed L, who was sitting on a beanbag, twiddling with her candyfloss hair.

"It's Mugen!"

"To think you named yourself after the coolest guy from Samurai Champloo. It's an insult to him. You don't even look like him for starters." She looked over at him. His hair was tied up in a ponytail and it was a dirty blonde colour and had a numerous tattoos on his neck.

"So what?" Grimmjow was just standing there, feeling very confused, just to clear up his confusion he asked Kenny what the hell was going on and why he wasn't robbing anybody of their games yet.

"About that. We invited you to our Halo afternoon as part of welcoming you to the group." Blue eyes stared at Kenny with murderous intent.

"I'm leaving." He said and walked towards the door, only for Kenny to block the way quickly.

"Don't go! You know you'll still get paid just for being here." Grimmjow thought this over. All he had to do was sit here with these geeks and get paid for doing it. It was the Gaming Planet but in a different location.

"Whatever." He walked back and sat on a beanbag next to L. How he was cursing Kenny, the Geeky Human _**Deceitful**_ Tormenter.

_**Many, Many Hours Later**_

How he was praising his Geeky Human Deceitful Tormenter! He was actually enjoying himself, not that he would ever voice that to any of them. They spent hours playing on Halo 3, occasionally stopping to have a slice of pizza and some beer. Grimmjow, not knowing exactly how to use the buttons on the controller, was so fired up it was bordering on the insane.

'_Killing for fun, as a game! These humans aren't so fucking boring after all.'_ He had taken over from L since she found it so boring and they refused to change games, so she just sat and ate from the fourth box of pizza, watching the males blow and shoot each other to pieces. Grimmjow was really considering buying this for his own pleasure so he could play whenever he wanted back at his apartment. It was too much fun.

"Do you know what it's like to be blown to pieces, Grass Head?" Grimmjow smirked at Yoshi.

"No, not rea-"

"Well ya gonna find out!!" An explosion appeared on the screen as Grimmjow's character blown Yoshi's character sky high. Grimmjow laughed manically, making everyone squirm in their seats, wondering if it was really such a good idea to bring him in the first place.

"You know, Grimm Reaper-" Mugen piped up

"Grimmjow, Moo Moo!!" He snarled at the blonde man, his eyes wide like a madman.

"My name is Mugen."

"Like I give a damn."

"Don't you think you're getting a little carried away?" Grimmjow stared at the screen, ignoring him before bursting out into a wide grin.

"Not really, no." He said before putting a few rounds in Mugen's character. Another maniacal laugh and the words, "Die, Die, DIE!!" were heard and Mugen was no more.

How Grimmjow hated this pompous man. He was just as geeky as the rest, but he was so stuck his own ass and thought he was better than everyone else, it was irritating, just like Ulquiorra and, man, he hated that bastard. Ulquiorra's Human Clone: Moo Moo AKA Mugen, just sat and pouted, whining about how rude Grimmjow was. Grimmjow didn't care, he was having too much fun to care as the next round of Halo matches commenced.

_**Toto's Coffee House, Downtown Karakura**_

It was well into the night and L managed to tear the group away from killing each other and down to the late night coffee house. Grimmjow found out that for a couple of nights a week, L drags them down to the coffee shop to get some culture into their lives and to socialise instead of socialising in the comforts of their own home on their computers. They entered the establishment. It was moodily lit, giving the feel of a beatnik club, candles flickering on tables, young people sitting in groups listening to a man spouting some moody poetry from a stage. Finding a booth a way away, the group sat down and all of a sudden a waitress came out of nowhere beaming at them.

"Good evening, I'll be your waitress tonight. If you need anything just give me a shout and-"

"Hey Yumi." Said Yoshi with a lazy smile on his face.

"Oh, ermmm, hello Yoshi." She said before quickly walking away.

"Who was that?" Asked Grimmjow intrigued about Probable Annoying Tormenter: Grass Head AKA Yoshi's sudden slip to goofiness.

"That was Yumi, who he has an unhealthy obsession with and doesn't have the guts to ask out." Said L, peering over the menu on the stand on the table.

"It is not an obsession! I just admire her like any man would do."

"So knowing practically every pointless thing about her, when all she knows is your name and finding out and memorizing her work timetable so you can 'coincidently' bump into her is not an unhealthy obsession?"

"No." L just sighed and carried on looking over the menu.

"Anyway enough about me, I heard you got a present this morning Grimmjow. From a secret admirer." Yoshi wiggled his eyebrows at him. Grimmjow tutted at him thinking how Yoshi was living up to his name as Probable Annoying Tormenter.

"It was probably from that stupid clumsy girl from yesterday." He scoffed.

"From a girl eh? So was she absolutely cute, hot, sexy, beautiful, gorgeous-"

"She wasn't any of those. Just average."

'_Just average in her footwork but pretty in the rest- WAIT! I did not just think that!'_

"She's pretty?!" Yoshi gasped.

'_Crap! I said it out loud!'_

"Too right she's pretty. She was like a mysterious elven beauty." Sighed Kenny wistfully.

"You sure she ain't pretty to you, Grimmjow?" Grimmjow realised it was Kenny who said she was pretty.

'_Maybe not. Phew.'_

"No. I don't do pretty. I do pretty hot." Smirked Grimmjow.

"Typical men." Muttered L. The waitress called Yumi appeared again to take their orders. Before she left, Grimmjow stopped her.

"Hey! You!" She looked at him and practically drooled all over herself, taken aback by his dazzling good looks.

"My name's Kawazaki Yumi. I'm an Aquarius and I love long walks, poetry and shopping, I dislike-"

"Yeah, yeah, save that for someone who cares. Grass- Yoshi here fancies you and wants to ask you out, don't ya?" Yoshi's face had turned a very pale colour, on the verge of throwing up out of fear.

"He does really. So ya wanna go out with him?"

"Sure." She smiled at Yoshi. The table was gob smacked, utterly gob smacked. Yoshi was finding it difficult to speak and breathe for that matter.

"Great. Now go get us those drinks." Grimmjow shooed her away.

"I can't believe it." Gasped Mugen.

"Neither can I. I thought after all this time, she didn't like him." said Kenny.

"Well it's done now. So fix yourself up, Grass Head, you look like an idiot." Grimmjow said sternly. Yumi came back with their drinks, giving Yoshi a smile and walked off.

"You know we don't know that much about you Grimmjow." Stated L, sipping on her cappuccino.

"Yeah, that's true. Not once have you told us something about you." Said Yoshi, recovering thanks to his mocha.

"I've only been here for a few days. You people are nosy." He sneered.

"Well all I know about you is that ya Spanish." Said Kenny

"Spanish? I thought so, with a name like that." Commented L

"What's so good about being Spanish?" Scoffed Mugen, stirring his latte with a spoon. Grimmjow glared at him and began to say a few choice insults to him in Spanish.

"What did you say?"

"If ya knew Spanish, you would know, Moo Moo."

"It's Mugen!" He screeched, making Grimmjow smirk. He was so easy to wind up, it was just too much fun.

"Oh my gosh, it's her!" Gasped Kenny.

"Her?" Asked Mugen.

"The white haired elven beauty." He sighed. Everyone snapped to where he was looking and there she was. Grimmjow's eyes couldn't help but be drawn to her. It was like time stood still as she floated into the coffee house, her white hair trailing behind her in a long high ponytail but then the moment was ruined when he saw the object of his mission, the whole reason he was there, trailing behind her. His face paled slightly. If he so much as looked in Grimmjow's direction, he was screwed.

"Wow, she is pretty but not as beautiful as you, my darling L." Gushed Mugen. L just snorted in amusement.

"Aren't you going to thank her for the cake?" She asked Grimmjow.

"Why would I?"

"It's called being polite."

"Since when am I polite?" L scoffed but expected nothing less from a man like Grimmjow.

"Fine, I'll tell her for you." Grimmjow panicked. If she so much as told her his name especially in front of his orange haired target, then it would be all over.

"No wait, don't tell her."

"Too late, I'm going."

"Just don't tell her my name, ok?" He begged.

"Why?"

"To give me an air of mystery." He smirked. L shook her head but agreed and walked over to the clumsy girl and his orange haired shinigami target. He watched anxiously as L began talking to the girl. Ichigo just stood there with a frown on his face and the girl was really animated, doing lots of hand movements which looked so elegant. L walked back over to the group.

"What did she say? What was she like?" Asked Yoshi.

"She's very nice, a bit kooky but nice, and pretty up close. She'ss too nice for you Grimmjow."

"Oh thanks." He grumbled

"She said, she was really sorry and she was glad you enjoyed the cake."

"So do you know who that guy she's with is?" asked Kenny hopeful

"It seems like her friend. So you guys are slightly closer to even getting a glance from her." Mocked L. Kenny was practically jumping in his seat with joy. Suddenly a ringing noise was heard.

"Is that yours Grimmjow?"

'_Dammit! Now of all times.'_

"Back in a minute." He quickly got up, his eyes kept glancing over to where Ichigo was, just to make sure he wasn't looking and made his way to the toilets. Once he knew he was safe and no one was around, he got out his phone and flipped it open.

"Yes?!"

"**Are you Grimmjow Jaegerjaques?**" Came a weird voice.

"Who the hell is this?"

"**This is…your father!**"

"What the fuck?!"

Loud laughing was heard from the other end which he instantly recognised as…

"Gin!" He growled

"**Oh that was good, you can't say that wasn't funny now, Grimm-chan.**"

'_I'll kill Gin, one day I will kill him.'_

"What the hell do ya want?"

"**Can't I have a talk with one of my most favourite espada?**"

"No."

"**Well I'm gonna.**" He could imagine Gin's evil smirk spread on his face.

"This ain't-" He suddenly heard the door to the toilet's open and actually gasped, fleeing into one of the cubicles after seeing orange hair in the reflection of the mirrors.

"**Grimm-chan, are ya there?**" He could hear a muffled voice on the phone. What was he going to do? He did the only thing that came to mind.

"I know you're angry with me but I will be home soon" He started saying down the phone in a fake Spanish accent.

"**I know ya will be back soon, Grimm-chan, don't need to tell me that.**" Grimmjow could hear the sound of taps running.

"Honey please…"

"**Honey? I know we are good friends but that is taking it a little far now.**" Gin was getting confused by the conversation and Grimmjow's change in voice. Grimmjow wasn't enjoying this either but once he heard the door to the toilets swing open and then closed, he breathed a sigh of relief.

"Soz bout that. That Shinigami almost caught me."

"**Don't use excuses to cover for the way you feel about me, but unfortunately for you, I'm not interested.**"

"What the?! Don't be so full of yourself! Why would I like you?"

"**Oh Grimm-chan, I'll have to inform Aizen-taicho about this. High ranking people like me and subordinates like you cannot possible engage in such a relationship. It just can't work. What would everyone say? Well bye bye now.**"

"Gin! GIN! Just you wait-" The line went dead. This was bad. Now everyone in Las Noches will think he's got a thing for Gin and there was nothing he could do.

"Fucking brilliant."

* * *

People were starting to leave as the coffee house was at closing time. The group all piled out onto the street, a bit high from all the caffeine they consumed. Mugen was spouting some rubbish about how Grimmjow should show him some respect and occasionally making googly eyes at L, who just turned her back on him and ignored him. Yoshi was talking to Yumi outside and finally rejoined the group after getting her number. Grimmjow was still wondering how on earth he managed to dodge Ichigo. When he got off the phone to Gin, he rejoined the group, slightly sloping in his seat so it would be harder for Ichigo to spot him, but a guy with bright teal hair was always easy to spot but Ichigo never did spot him. So he came to the conclusion that either Ichigo needed some glasses, was colour blind or, his favourite, just plain stupid. Whatever the reason, he was counting his lucky stars he wasn't caught. It was becoming clear it was going to be harder than he thought it would be.

"Hey Grimm, need a ride home?" Asked Kenny, clinking his keys in his hand.s

"Nah, I'll walk."

'_Like I want you knowing where I live. Nice try, chubby bags.'_

"Alright then, day off tomorrow, so we'll see you the day after." Everyone said their goodbyes to him and piled into The Kennymobile and drove off, leaving Grimmjow still standing on the side. He wasn't ready to go home yet because he was still interested in the clumsy girl, whether he would admit it or not. Her reiatsu was still around and inside the coffee house. Wanting to know why, he peered through the glass and watched her closely. She had her cleaning equipment but was a bit confused with how to use the various cleaning agents. Ichigo had explained and demonstrated at home but she was still confused. Taking a spray out the box, she tried to spray it put nothing came out, so she began tapping it on the side of the counter in frustration. Grimmjow just watched her in amusement. She finally figured out that the top was on and sprayed the counter and using her cloth, she began cleaning the counter. His blue eyes never left her. He might look strange to passers by just staring into a window for ages but he couldn't help it. Now she was cleaning the floor, at least she knew how to do that. The mop was slopping over the floor as she glided across the ground, it was like her feet weren't touching the ground at all, dancing around with the mop in her hands. It was comical but pretty. Suddenly he wasn't staring at her but she was staring at him in confusion. She dropped the mop and began walking towards him.

'_Crap, she saw me! Got make a run for it.'_ But he couldn't. He was stuck in place. Her hands were pressed on the window, staring at him. He was sure she would run out the shop and start talking to him but she didn't. She gave him a tiny smile. He stared at her still before regaining his senses and giving her a dirty look. She was taken a back suddenly and went back to her cleaning.

'_That was strange.'_ He thought before walking away off down the street. For that moment, it was like he lost all control of his senses, which had never happened to him before but he was intrigued now about how in fact she knew that shinigami. Maybe he could use her to his advantage.

**And it's done! A brief Gin appearance! Even if he was on the phone. Reviews please my lovely readers.**

**Next Chapter: Tsukiko helps Ichigo out with his love life, even if he doesn't want the help, Grimmjow turns stalker and disaster strikes which leads to a close encounter.**


	5. To Follow A Strawberry

**Heya guys! Thanks for reading and the reviews as always. I did love the bit with Gin it must be said. Here's chapter 5!**

**Chapter 5: To Follow a Strawberry**

It had been weeks since the coffee house incident and Grimmjow had seemingly settled into life in the world of the living and was actually doing what he was sent there to do in the first place. He still hated the place, don't be mistaken, those urges to just forget the mission, pop out his gigai and kill every single person who so much as looked at him was still there but he had to admit there was some interesting things that had happened to him.

Firstly his appearance had been improved. Since the only clothes in his wardrobe were ones that Gin had stocked in there from the first day and trust me, they were not clothes he wanted to wear and he hadn't had the time to go shopping, **correction!** He _didn't_ want to go shopping. All the hustle and bustle to look over stupid clothes on railings for hours on end did not appeal to him, so he made someone else do it for him and that person came in the shape of L. She was the only person in the Gaming Planet that was remotely 'normal', had a decent conversation with and would be gladly happy to be seen out and about with because she did have style so she was the perfect candidate. So she took him shopping one afternoon to one of her favourite haunts to make him look like a male version of herself and in her own words, **'if you are going to have badass blue hair, then you need badass outfits to match that badass personality of yours'**. He came out the shops that day with bags of dark, edgy outfits and an addiction to saying 'badass' thanks to L saying it to every single item that caught her eye. She also persuaded him to get a tattoo because **'No badass dude with badass blue hair cannot be without a badass tattoo'**. He explained that he had a tattoo already but another couldn't hurt, so after a while in the tattoo parlor, his left side was now covered with a Chinese dragon. _'How stupid'_ He thought but remembered it was only a gigai so it didn't really matter. So that was appearance done.

Secondly, that stupid clumsy girl! Everywhere he went, she was coincidently there, not that he believed in coincidences, she was stalking him and that was all there was to it (It was half true but most of the time it was just pure coincidence). Every single day, there was a little gift left from her in front of the shop, most of the time bento boxes which she made herself and were surprisingly good and left with little random notes like **'I hope you like the surprise filling in the rice balls' **(It turned out to be some random smelly fish) **'A bento box a day keeps the doctor away' **and his most favourite one of all, **'I accidentally spilt half a bottle of sake in the rice, I hope you don't get too drunk off it'** Every time she never left her name, instead always signing them with a little drawing of a happy face. Though he would not admit it, he was grateful since he always couldn't be bothered to make one himself and he did get really hungry. Also it was the highlight of his day since nothing that interesting happened that often and surprise gifts from a girl you don't even know, was strange but interesting.

Sitting on his sofa, he stopped reminiscing and paced into his bedroom to check on that very girl who was currently in his bed. How did she get there? Well the story has to backtrack to the very beginning of the day when he was carrying out his mission.

_**Saturday Morning, Ichigo's bedroom**_

It was a nice Saturday morning and as usual Ichigo woke up later than usual but what was unusual was the manner in which he was woken up in. In his mind he could weird chanting and banging but since he was asleep he thought it was another weird dream but it seemed so real. His eyes opened groggily and the first thing he saw was a weird face right up in his.

"ARGH!!" He shot up from his lying position to see Tsukiko straddling his legs smiling at him.

"Good morning, Ichigo." She said in her usual polite happy manner. Any young man would be happy to wake up to a young woman straddling them in bed but not Ichigo, but then Ichigo was strange when it came to things like that.

"What the hell ya doin?!" Pushing her away from him.

"I was merely giving you a traditional wake up call. My brother always did it when we were little."

'_I'd prefer the traditional alarm clock wake up call'_ He thought to himself, rubbing his head.

"Oh I've brought your breakfast up here as well." She said, grabbing the tray from the ground and passing it to him.

"Thanks." He mumbled before having some of the delectable breakfast before him.

"So, what are we going to do today?" Over the weeks, Ichigo had taken her around to see some of the attractions in the town from the amusement park to museums, all of which she found deeply fascinating. Now she was curious at what fun was going to be had that day.

"Ermm, gonna go hang out with Chad and Orihime."

"That's cool… Orihime is very nice isn't she?" Tsukiko had an innocent smile on her face.

"Yeah, she is." He mumbled.

"Do you like her?"

"Yeah, she's my friend so I do like her, I guess." He took some more bites of his breakfast.

"I mean, do you like her, like, _like _her…" Questioned Tsukiko. Ichigo grumbled something like, "What are you talking about?"

"Do you like Orihime more than a friend and wish considering dating her?" That did it. Ichigo chocked on his food. If she was trying to kill him, she was doing a good job of it.

"What?! Are you joking?!" He looked at her face and she was definitely not joking.

"N-No! She's just a friend. Why are you asking me all this?! And in the morning when I'm not even prepared!"

"I was just being interested since you are a nice boy, who frowns a lot and doesn't seem to smile-"

"I do too smile!"

"I've never seen you smile…wait I have… when you talk with Orihime sometimes." Ichigo snarled at her and carried on eating his breakfast in silence, while Tsukiko smiled to herself. From their days out, Orihime had always been there with them, sometimes Renji and Rukia came, sometimes Chad and on one occasion, Ishida came but he said he only came with them because they were heading in the direction of his favourite sewing shop, not that he wanted to have any fun but every time Orihime tagged along and Tsukiko noticed instantly that Orihime had a little crush on Ichigo. She was not too clued up on stuff like love but she could see the symptoms of it but it seemed that Ichigo was more clueless than she was and now she had decided to do something about it. Today was Operation: Love the Strawberry and she was determined to spread a bit of happiness in Ichigo's life since he was always frowning all the time and Orihime seemed the right person to do it.

_**Around 12 o'clock at a café in downtown Karakura**_

Since it was Grimmjow's day off from the Human Gaming Hellhole, he decided it was best he carried on with his mission since he knew that if he did not return to Hueco Mundo with satisfactory information then goodness knows what torture may happen to him, maybe he might have to be Ulquiorra's bitch, taking orders from him for weeks on end. Now that was a punishment he didn't want to consider so he started his stalking of his orange haired target but it was much difficult getting the useful information Aizen wanted. Unless Aizen wanted to kill Ichigo with nuts since he overheard a conversation about his unfortunate allergy then there wasn't really much to report back to him. But now he was giving it another go, so he was here (in disguise, consisting of glasses, hat and scarf, since he didn't want another 'coffee house' embarrassing moment.) at the café a few tables away from the young group and began listening to see what he could get out of the conversation.

Sitting unaware away from a heavily disguised Grimmjow, was Ichigo, Chad, Orihime and Tsukiko having some lunch and a conversation, a strange one since it was Orihime doing the talking.

"So what do you think is better, having metal arms, or metal legs?" Ichigo and Chad winced as if the conversation was causing them pain but Tsukiko happily answered.

"Oh I would have metal legs because I like my arms. How about you?"

"Hmmm…I would have metal arms because then I would be so strong and be able to easily open bottle tops when they become stuck without anyone's help." Beamed Orihime. Ichigo and Chad took a sip of their drinks at the same time wondering why on earth they were actually listening to this so they decided to try and steer the conversation into something more practically like-

"So where shall we go?" Asked Chad.

"How about the aquarium?" Said Orihime excitedly.

"Aquarium?" Questioned Tsukiko, not having heard that word before.

"It's a place where beautiful fishes and other sea creatures are and we get to around and look at them." Tsukiko was amazed at what Orihime was saying.

"Can we go there?! To this aquarium place?" She begged the two guys. They shrugged their shoulders in an 'I don't really mind or care where we go as long as we go somewhere' kind of way. The girls cheered happily and a few tables away, Grimmjow growled, having a feeling it was going to be a long and pointless day.

_**Inside the Karakura Town Aquarium**_

"Wow!" Tsukiko gasped in amazement as the group were standing in the entrance room of the aquarium. The place was enormous. There were lots of toy sea-life creatures hanging from the high ceiling and sea noises came from speakers around the place, making it feel like you were in the sea. There were separate paths which led to different sections of the aquarium.

"Oh, Tsukiko-chan, do you want to see the seahorses?" Orihime said, holding onto Tsukiko's hands in excitement.

"Yes! Let's go!"

"Guys we're going to see the seahorses!" Orihime said to Ichigo and Chad but they were too busy talking that they didn't noticed she was talking or notice that the two girls had actual disappeared down one of the paths to find the seahorses. It took them a few minutes for them to actual realise this.

"Damn, they ran off. Oh well, we'll just look around here without them." Ichigo said to Chad before walking off down a path, unaware that they were being closely followed by Grimmjow.

The two girls peered into a tall glass case which contained at least five seahorses, watching them swimming around.

"They are so pretty." Said Orihime.

"Yes, we do not have these things where I come from."

"Really?" Tsukiko nodded her head and continued to look at the tank. Now was a perfect time to execute part one of Operation: Love the Strawberry- Establish Orihime's true feelings for Ichigo. That shouldn't be too hard but she was shy so she might not be willing to tell it straight away, so she had to be subtle.

"Ichigo is so cool isn't he?"

"Oh yes, he is a very cool person. He's so kind and brave and very thoughtful and-"

'_Maybe it will be easier than I thought.'_ Sighed Tsukiko.

"Ermm Orihime, can I ask you something?"

"Yes sure, what is it?"

"Well this is a hypothetical question but say if you like someone but they're a friend and you're not sure if you like them back but the desire to have them is so overwhelming, would you tell them or not tell them in case risking losing their friendship?" Orihime thought about that for a moment.

"I would probably tell them."

"Oh right."

"Tsukiko-chan?"

"Yes?"

"I noticed that you talk about Kurosaki-kun a lot and now you asked this hypothetical question…do you love Kurosaki-kun?" Tsukiko was taken by surprise. She used the hypothetical question to establish what Orihime would do and now she thinks that she fancies Ichigo. That wasn't good, besides even if she did, she was _waaaay_ older than he was, old enough to be his great, great, great, great, great, great grandmother.

"Ha ha! No Orihime, I don't love Ichigo but I consider him a good friend for helping me. No I was going to ask you the same question." Orihime looked at Tsukiko questioningly.

"Do you love Ichigo?" A shade of red covered Orihime's face.

"Ha ha ha, no, no, he's just a friend and even if it was true, he wouldn't go out with me…" She stopped and walked off down the long corridor of glass cases full of turtles.

"Orihime, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you sad." Tsukiko felt bad now for bringing that up but she could definitely see that there was something there.

"Oh no, I'm not sad."

"But can I say, I do sometimes see you looking at him wistfully." Orihime was getting redder as her secret was almost being exposed.

"Do I? Maybe I was just daydreaming, I do that a lot."

"Orihime, do you love Ichigo?" The girls looked at one another then Orihime suddenly burst into tears.

"Yes, yes I do!" She wailed, flinging herself onto Tsukiko dramatically, earning stares from people passing by.

"There, there, it's alright. See? Wasn't it good to tell somebody?" Orihime nodded her head into Tsukiko's shoulder.

"I'll tell you what, leave all this to me. I'll have Ichigo professing his love for you before you can say 'Strawberry Shortcake'" Smiled Tsukiko. Orihime smiled at her, before wiping away her tears and dragging her around to look at some more sea-creatures.

_**Hours later**_

The sun was slowly setting and Grimmjow was running back to his apartment, even though it was easier to catch the bus. He was almost caught again! He had followed Ichigo and Chad when they were in the aquarium and found out some more information, not information Aizen would want but information he wanted and could use against Ichigo when he encounters him in battle again. So far he found out that he has a talking stuffed bear called Kon, (_'Shinigami has cuddly stuffed toys like a pansy! HA HA HA_), he didn't have a girlfriend but did like some girl…Ori…Ori…Orihime? Orihime! (_'Like that stupid shinigami could get a girlfriend. Just look at him, he's ugly as fuck!_) and he did see Ichigo trip over. Not information, but it was just pure funny, that he had to smother himself with his scarf to stop him from laughing so loud and blowing his cover.

After hours in the stupid aquarium, the group was walking back into downtown Karakura when disaster struck, not for the group but for Grimmjow. The stupid shinigami was whispering something to the group and suddenly stopped and turned around to face Grimmjow. He didn't know what to do. The target was looking straight at him and walking straight towards.

"I dunno what ya think ya doing following us pal, but ya need to stop." Grimmjow was cursing himself for getting caught in the act of stalking so easily. His assumption that Ichigo was stupid and would never know that he was following him had suddenly crashed and burned. Grimmjow did the only thing he could do…RUN! He sped past him and the group, who were giving him strange looks and running to his apartment.

He finally arrived, out of breath and in shock. Opening the door, he removed all his disguise and settled down on his couch. That was the second time! He was getting to careless, maybe next time he would get it right, but for now he lay on his couch, waiting for night to come by since he had some night time plans of his own to do.

_**Saturday Night, Toto's Coffee House**_

It was closing time at the coffee house and as usual Tsukiko was getting ready for her night shift as a cleaner. She really enjoyed the job, considering it was cleaning and nothing a princess should be doing. Pulling out her cleaning cloth and spray, she began cleaning the surfaces around the coffee house and her mind began to wander back to the day's events and her successful completion of one of the tasks in her overall master plan, Operation: Love the Strawberry but it was far from over. And there was also her other on-going mission, Operation: Make Blue Happy. The bento boxes she carefully made for him everyday seemed to be going down well because she would always sit outside his workplace and watch him scoff the food down quickly and sometimes a little smirk would cross his face when he read her notes. It made her feel all warm and fuzzy inside that she was spreading happiness to others. She finished wiping down the surfaces and began her dancing routine with her mop, slopping about across the floor. She spun around and saw out the window a gleam of blue standing out in the night. Her eyes were hopeful but spinning back around again, it was gone as quick as it appeared.

Standing on the road opposite the coffee house, Grimmjow watched the scene from a bench. To this day he still didn't know why he felt the need to watch her every night. It wasn't like she was doing anything interesting, she was cleaning for goodness sake! As if that was anything good to watch. She was very curious though and there were things he wanted to know such as why she felt the need to be making him lunch and leaving it outside his workplace when she didn't even know him, how she knew that stupid orange haired shinigami and what the hell she is?! All those questions were clouded in mystery and it was probably going to be fun trying to get the answers to those questions. Suddenly he saw her coming out the coffee house, awkwardly trying to balance some things in her arms and trying to lock up the place. Once done, he began to follow her as she walked back to her temporary home.

The night was surprisingly cold so Tsukiko was lucky she had a scarf wrapped tightly round her neck and her hands were warmed by the two cups of coffee she had made. The job did have its perks and free coffee and cakes were one of them.

'_Mmmm, the coffee smells so good. A shame that Ichigo will be asleep since he would have enjoyed this, oh well, he has this cake.'_ Turning the corner she suddenly bumped into someone.

"Hey! Watch where ya going!" Snarled a rough looking man.

"Oh I'm really sorry sir, please forgive me." She bowed in front of him and tried to move around him but he followed her every move.

"I'm sorry but I really need to go home." She managed to quickly slip pass but was grabbed by her elbow and pulled back, making her almost drop her things.

"I didn't say ya could go, girly. Hmmm what do we have here?" By now three more guys came from nowhere, probably his friends and started surrounding her.

"I-It's my coffee. Please I need to go home before they-" Her coffee was ripped from her hands and the man took a huge gulp of it before spitting it out.

"That tastes like shit!" He chucked the cup to the floor, Tsukiko just looked on in shock. He took a sip from the other cup before again spitting out the contents and chucking that cup to the floor. The coffee spread out on the ground like oil slick.

"Why did you do such a thing?" She said outraged but still frightened.

"Because it tasted like crap! Now what ya got in that bag?" He reached out to grab her bag containing her precious cakes but she pulled away.

"No, these are mine, now please leave me alone." Ready to leave, she was grabbed once again and thrown into a nearby alley.

"You're a bit feisty ain't ya, girly?" One of the men said as they all advanced on her.

"Leave me alone!" She pushed one of the men in the chest, making him stumble back.

"Ya gonna pay for that." They all ran at her but were surprised at her sudden fighting skills. Punches and kicks came flying in all directions as she gave them a taste of justice but it all came to a quick end when she was grabbed by her ankle and pulled to the ground but she hit her head hard on a dirty trashcan, knocking her out, but the last thing she saw was a familiar shade of blue.

_**The Present**_

So that is how she was now currently occupying his bed. Grimmjow had, of course, seen the whole incident. He didn't interfere because it wasn't his problem but when he saw her so distressed and those punks started beating on her, then he decided it was his problem. He was a pretty ruthless man who didn't give a damn about anyone but himself BUT he did have morals and a strange sense of honour. All those weeks she had kindly supplied him with lunch, now it was time he repaid the kindness with an act of kindness of his own and it was a chance to have a proper fight since he hadn't done so for so long and he didn't want his skills to get all rusty so he dashed across the road and got stuck into the action. Minutes later and the men all scarped off, taking such severe beatings, leaving a really happy Grimmjow and an unconscious Tsukiko. Sighing, he picked her up off the ground and carried her back to his apartment.

The sound of sheets ruffling startled him slightly and he watched as eyes slowly opened. She groaned, sitting up in the bed and began looking around.

"This…isn't Ichigo's room." She murmured.

"Bout time ya woke up. I wanna go to sleep." Her head snapped into the direction of the voice and her eyes widened upon seeing the very person she had been focusing her efforts on. Her mouth was flapping open and closed, unable to form any words. She stumbled around on the bed before ending up falling off the end, landing in a heap on the ground.

"Oi! Oi! Don't go hurtin yourself again, you idiot!" He grumbled. She staggered back up off the ground and stared at him. She had finally gotten the opportunity to talk to him and what does she say…?

"I must leave." She walked round the side of the bed and towards the door. Not the words she wanted to say at all.

"Thank you for helping me-"

"Whatever, save all the gratitude and just get back home." She stared into his moody eyes.

'_He's so rude. I was just merely thanking him…'_ She nodded her head and left the room. He sighed, flopping back on his bed, hearing the faint sounds of his front door being opened then closed shut. Just then, he saw for a split second before she left, an unusual look in her eyes, one he had never seen before from her. It looked like disappointment with a mixture of sadness…but why should he care? She was just some girl, he didn't care if she looked at him with anger, happiness, crazy killer eyes or whatever, he didn't care but why did he have a weird sinking feeling in his chest? And why was it hurting as well?

'_Probably the stupid lungs in this gigai giving up on me.'_ He thought, not realising it was his heart that was hurting him.

'_That stupid clumsy girl!'_

**Chapter 4 done! A bit crappy but it's done. I was gonna pair Ichigo with Rukia but Orihime and Ichigo just look too cute together! Review and there will be chocolates for you!!**

**Next Chapter: Gin comes to visit, Ichigo's love life is still being interfered with and Grimmjow and Tsukiko have a late night conversation.**


	6. Watch Out! Gin's About!

**Wow, thanks for the great reviews guys. Really giving me motivation to carry on with this story, since I was planning on stopping but I will continue on!**

**Chapter 6: Watch Out! Gin's About!**

_**Morning at Grimmjow's Pad**_

Morning had come and broken Grimmjow's sleep, much to his disgust. How he despised mornings. Mornings never happened in Hueco Mundo since it was constantly night but here the sun shone brightly, not giving a damn who it woke up. The rays hit Grimmjow straight in the eyes, no matter how hard he tried to hide himself underneath the covers from the yellow devil in the sky, it still managed to get in his eyes. Grumbling, he threw off the covers in annoyance and did a very long stretch, feeling and hearing a few cracks of the bones and got out of bed. He didn't get much of a sleep last night, no matter how hard he tried, that stupid clumsy girl was gate-crashing his dreams, haunting him with those purple eyes of hers. What he needed to clear his head was a giant mug of coffee. Suddenly he heard a clatter which sounded like it came from the kitchen. Someone was robbing him early in the morning?! Robbing him of his food and kitchenware?! Grimmjow really wasn't in the mood to be having to deal with people today and this robber really did pick a bad day to be raiding his apartment, more so his kitchen. Slowly slipping off his bed, he picked up the nearest thing he could find, which just so happened to be his alarm clock and silently paced to the door, ready to surprise the early morning thief. What surprised him was the unknown person was singing something to themselves, not caring if they were giving themselves away. He quietly cracked the door open enough for him to hear and catch a glimpse of the person. The voice sounded so familiar to him, like he heard it before somewhere but couldn't quite place it, so straining his ears he tried to listen some more and heard himself listening to some choice song words.

"Grimm-chan, Ohhh Grimm-chan! I'm making breakfast foooor Grimm-chan! He may be grumpy and with no glee, but cheer him up with Gin's special tea! He's Grimm-chan! Oh, he's Grimm-chan!"

Grimmjow's eyes twitched violently and his grip on the alarm clock was at breaking point. He knew exactly who the hell was in there and it was time he put a stop to it. He threw open the door and stormed into the kitchen. There, still singing away, was Gin, happily frying some eggs in a frying pan and doing a little jig on the spot, seemingly unaware that Grimmjow was looming over him, ready to strike him on the head with the clock.

"Grimm-chan! You're awake!" Gin turned his head and gave him a smirk. Grimmjow's teeth were grinding together in irritation.

"No need to look like that. I know ya happy to see me. And I'm makin ya breakfast so go and sit ya self down like a good little espada." Gin really knew how to get on Grimmjow's nerves. Grimmjow threw the alarm clock into the living room, letting it smash against the wall and leaned on the kitchen counter.

"Now, now, no need for violence-"

"What the hell are ya doin here?! I thought ya were a friggin robber!" He just couldn't understand it. If Aizen was so desperate for updates, all he needed to do was pick up the stupid phone and ring him, not send his joker right hand man to annoy him.

"Well that would be telling…" Gin said. Grimmjow actually waited for a reply but there was none since Gin went back to humming his made up tune.

"GIN!"

"My, my, calm down. Aizen-taicho sent me here to help ya out a bit since he hasn't heard from ya in a while because ya haven't been answering ya phone like a good little boy…and I have missed ya very much! Hueco Mundo isn't the same without ya!" He cried mockingly, annoying Grimmjow further.

"I don't need any help so get the fuck outta here!"

"But I'm making you breakfast-"

"I don't care! Just get out!" Grimmjow shouted, resisting the urge to grab Gin by his collar and throw him in the gutter where he belonged but Aizen wouldn't be too happy about that.

"You're more grumpy than usual. Is something wrong?" There was too many things wrong right now, not that he would tell him that.

"No!" Grimmjow growled, watching as Gin set out his breakfast in front of him, which smelt really appetizing.

"Yes there is…I know, it's usually these things that get people angry…" Suddenly he picked up a magazine that was on the counter.

"What the?! Where did ya get that?! And why are you reading women's magazines?!"

"I dunno but anyway…AH, here we are! It say's here that things that most likely cause people trouble are work, friends, family or love. Since you don't have any family that's out the question and you don't have any friends-"

"I have friends!!" Grimmjow blurted out before he realised what he actually said. Gin was elated.

"You have finally found friends!! Oh, I'm so happy for you!" Gin jumped on Grimmjow's back and hugged him tight round the neck.

"Get the fuck off me, ya weirdo!" Grimmjow managed to nudge himself free from Gin's hug and ate his breakfast.

"This is brilliant! And human friends as well! Even more surprising but I guess the problem is not friends, so how about work? It must be that right?" Grimmjow just carried on eating.

"Work is it? Shall I tell Aizen-taicho that you're unhappy helping him?"

"Fuck off."

"Such language Grimm-chan. So is work ok?"

"Yes! It's bloody fine, now stop with the questions!" He scowled and shovelled some more food into his mouth, wishing Gin would just leave already but he knew that would never happen. Gin was standing there smirking.

"So the only thing it must be is…" He leaned over his shoulder and whispered in his ear.

"That Grimm-chan's got his eye on someone." Food was sprayed all over the counter. He didn't mean to give himself away like that but no matter how much he denied it, he did have his eye on someone, but not for the reason Gin was implying. Gin wrapped an arm round Grimmjow's shoulder and had a very triumphant smile on his face.

"So it _is_ love. I think I have come at the right time."

"IT'S NOT LOVE!!" Grimmjow yelled for all to hear, standing up abruptly and stamped off to his bedroom, slamming the door behind him. Gin looked at the door and a wide grin spread across his face. He noticed how Grimmjow didn't deny the fact that he had his eye on someone. Oh was he going to have some fun.

_**Morning at Ichigo's House**_

The darkness of the closet shielding Tsukiko from the morning rays, which was just as well because she wasn't ready to feel the warm glow that she liked about the morning, rather enjoying the cold, darkness of the closet. She too, didn't get a good night's sleep, since the events of the night kept replaying itself over and over again. The terrible attack of the four strange men, waking up in the moody blue haired man's bed, only for him to be mean to her. Reality was hitting her hard, the harsh reality of life that not everyone is as nice and kind as Ichigo and Uncle Urahara. Maybe she was just kidding herself, walking around in a happy flowery bubble of her own and now it had popped, exposing her to the cruel cold world outside. She sighed sadly to herself.

'_What's wrong with me? If I can't overcome such trivial problems then how will I be able to be empress one day?' _Besides she had incomplete missions to attend to. The first stage of Operation: Love the Strawberry was a complete success and now she had to do the second stage; get Ichigo to admit his feelings for Orihime. This one was going to be very tough, since Ichigo wasn't the type of person to admit such feelings, to be honest, he got quite embarrassed when love was ever mentioned. But that was all about to change. She flung open the door to the closet and jumped out but at a bad time since Ichigo was in a state of undress. A little squeak of embarrassment came from her mouth as she clasped her hands over eyes.

"Tsukiko, you're up early." He said, quickly pulling on his trousers to stop her feeling anymore embarrassed.

"Ermm, it's ok to look now." He said amused. She slowly removed her hands from her face and put on her trademark smile.

"Ichigo, I have some things to talk about with you-"

"If it's about Orihime, I don't want to talk about it." She stared at him in amazement.

"How did you know?"

"Believe it or not, I'm not that stupid. I know what you're trying to do and it won't work. Even if I did like her like that, which I don't! She doesn't like me like that." The smile on Tsukiko's face just got wider and slyer. Placing a hand on his shoulder, she guided him back to his bed.

"Oh Ichigo, we really do have things to talk about." Pushing him down onto the bed, she sat next to him.

"Right, I'll ask you a question. What do you feel when you're around Orihime?"

"What? Why are you asking me-"

"Just answer the question please. And truthfully as well." Ichigo sighed. He had a feeling that if he did do what she asked he might pay for it later on.

"Alright then…but don't tell anyone about this alright?!" He growled.

"I promise, just think of me as…ermm…you know…those people who help people with their problems by asking lots of questions and listening-"

"A counsellor."

"Yes!" Ichigo wearily ran a hand through his hair. Showing and voicing his feelings was a very, _very_, rare thing for him to do.

"Ok, so when I'm around Orihime, I feel…I feel…dammit! I can't do this!"

"Yes you can. Let's try this. Close your eyes." Ichigo looked at her sceptically.

"Close your eyes." She repeated sternly. Ichigo did as he was told and closed his eyes.

"Now, picture Orihime in your mind." She watched as his eyes flickered under his eye lids as his mind went into dream mode.

"Now tell me how you feel."

"I…I feel happy."

"Anything else?"

"Warm, content…aroused-" Ichigo was really surprised at what he was saying then. His most inner thoughts and feelings were being exposed so easily but it was a good feeling and what was more, he enjoyed seeing Orihime's beautiful face in his mind…beautiful?! He thought she was beautiful. Oh dear.

"OK then…you can open your eyes now." Ichigo opened his bewildered eyes, still reeling at the feelings bubbling up inside of him that were on the brink of spilling over and Tsukiko was right on course to making it all spill out.

"Alright, so how do you really feel about Orihime? Tell me everything that comes to mind." This was it now. On the precipice of success. She could almost taste it.

"I never really paid much attention to her before but after everything we been through, I think we've gotten closer…she stuck by me through the bad times and the good and even though I know that its my duty to protect the people I care about, I feel she is the person that I would protect the most because…she's special and I think I do…love her…" He said it. Kurosaki Ichigo had just admitted that he loved Orihime.

"W-Why you looking at me like that for?!" He said in his usual manner, trying to mask the shame in revealing his feelings. Tsukiko was looking at him with a misty eyed look.

"That was truly beautiful. Just like the books Rukia reads."

"Don't compare it to that! I wish I never said anything." Grumbling and crossing his arms across his chest.

"Oh don't say that. This is a stepping stone to yours and Orihime's true happiness." She grabbed his hands and held them tight.

"Yeah right." He slipped his hands out of her grip. "As I said before, even if I do love her, she wouldn't go out with me."

"What would you say if I told you if she loves you too."

"I'd say you were out of your mind."

"Well it's true. She confessed yesterday at the aquarium. She's liked you for ages." This was all too good to be true. Ichigo couldn't believe his ears. She must be lying. She must be. But by the expression on her face, she was definitely telling him the truth. How could he be so blind as to not notice this but then again love is blind.

"I can't believe this." The oxygen was not getting to his brain quick enough, making him feel light headed. It was like a dream, a magical, wonderful dream. Tsukiko was equally happy, her mission was almost a success, just the final stage left to it: Get the pair together.

"Right, we have no time to lose because this state you're in will wear off soon, so before that happens, I'll call Orihime and get her over here-"

"No wait!" Ichigo snapped out of his stupor and looked at her worried.

"What?"

"I'm not prepared." He really wasn't prepared. Going into battle, getting stabbed like a voodoo doll and high risk of death didn't scare him. Admitting his feelings to the object of his affections, forget it.

"Alright then, since this is an important event and it has to be right, let's have a bit of down time, yeah?"

"Alright." Ichigo sighed. Today was either going to be the best or worst day of his life.

'_God help me.'_

_**At the Gaming Planet**_

He had had enough. Grimmjow just had to get out the apartment and away from Gin. Ever since giving the game away and giving Gin unnecessary ammunition to torture him with, he had to get out and away from the nosy questions he was asking. So desperate to escape he went to the Human Gaming Hellhole for solace and that was saying something. Running into the store, he almost dived behind the counter.

"Hey Grimmjow, you're here early. You're shift doesn't start for another hour." Commented L, looking over at Grimmjow sitting crouched down on the floor next to her feet, gasping for breath.

"Yeah, well, maybe I just enjoy being here." He said with mild sarcasm whilst peering over the counter, eyes darting from side to side, checking to see if the coast was clear.

"What's with the shiftiness? Are you avoiding someone?"

"You could say-oh crap!" He ducked down fast behind the counter again just as the doors opened up and Gin strolled in and happily approached the counter. Grimmjow may have ran as fast as he could to get away but Gin was persistent and ran right after him just so he could tease him some more. He really didn't have much of a life outside of being a sly enemy of Soul Society.

"Hello, pink haired human lady, I am lookin' for someone who ran in here not long ago, I wonder if ya have seen him."

"Go on." L discreetly glanced down at Grimmjow, who furiously made wild arm movements and head shakes to tell her not to tell the snake in front of her where he was.

"He has blue hair, quite tall, miserable looking, like somebody has slapped him across the face with a sandal. Goes by the name of Grimm-chan-"

"IT'S NOT GRIMM-CHAN, YOU MORON!!" Grimmjow angrily popped out from behind the counter, pointing irately at a smirking Gin. He suddenly stood motionless on the spot, L just looked at the pair curiously. He had stupidly given into Gin's provocations and given away his location all by himself. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

"So that's where ya where hiding."

"I wasn't hiding. I'm here to do my job, now get lost." Frowning over at Gin.

"Oh Grimmjow, you never guess what?" L suddenly remembered something.

"What?"

"Your not-so-secret admirer hasn't been here and delivered your lunch." Grimmjow's eyes tweaked slightly.

'_I'm gonna starve today! Thanks a lot clumsy girl!'_ But he felt a strange feeling in the pit of his stomach when L gave him that bad news. What was that feeling? Sickness? Anger? _'Nope must be the prospect of NO FUCKING FOOD!'_ He thought angrily.

"I'm gonna do stock check." Grumbled Grimmjow, not really wanting to do stock check but anything from getting out of seeing Gin's smirking face. He disappeared into the stock room, slamming the door shut behind him.

"So…who exactly are you?" Asked L to Gin.

"Oh, I'm a _very_ close friend who's come to pay him a visit."

"Oh right."

"But…ermmm, what's ya name?"

"L" Gin looked at her strangely. _'Humans have such strange names but then again most of the espada's have weird names, I mean, who calls themselves Szayel and Nnoitra?'_

"L? Hmmm, what an interesting name, but anyway, I'm very curious as to that conversation just now. Ya say Grimm-chan has a secret admirer?"

"Yeah, not that he cares. To be honest, I don't know why she bothers doing such nice things for him since he's such a misery guts and she's such a lovely girl too." This was just too good to be true. It was as if all his Christmases had come at once, topped off with an extravagant display of fireworks and a huge feast in his honour. Perfect opportunity for some fun at the expense of Grimmjow.

"So, L, tell me more about this girl." Gin's ever present smirk was just that ever devious.

'_I think my stay has just gotten more interesting.'_

_**Evening at the Kurosaki Household**_

The moment of truth had arrived, the moment Ichigo finally became a man, according to his dad anyway. Somehow he had caught wind of the whole situation by listening outside Ichigo's window. What he was doing outside listening by his son's window was anyone's guess. Now the dining room was something out a romance novel, nearly every girl's fantasy of a cliché romantic dinner. Lights dimmed to add to the mood, candles dotted all over the place and on top of the white dinner cloth on the table, was a vase and a single red rose in it. Ichigo was standing unimpressed near the table with an excited Tsukiko and an equally excited Isshin.

"This is over the top, old man."

"Nonsense! If you're gonna woe a beautiful young girl, you have to pull out all the stops and use the old Kurosaki charm." Isshin winked obscenely at his son, who just shook his head.

"Don't worry Ichigo, it will all go well and you look so handsome, she won't resist." Tsukiko commented, looking over Ichigo's outfit. After his little confession, the pair decided it would be best to prepare and thanks to Tsukiko reading Rukia's stupid girly novels and seeing a rom-com film on the TV, she had a prefixed idea of how the night should go and it started with the clothes. Since he didn't have nice enough clothes in his wardrobe (He agreed but was still deeply offended) they went shopping and boy, did they shop! Hours upon hours of looking through rails and rails of clothes, trying them on and rejecting a whole bunch of them, the only time they stopped was when Tsukiko fell asleep in the middle of the shop floor and Ichigo had to quickly avoid embarrassment and carried her out the shop and let her rest on a bench nearby. At last they did eventually bought his outfit, a red shirt, white trousers and white jacket (He wanted the black trousers and jacket but she said white was a nice colour and black was depressing. "Do you want to make her depressed?" "No, Tsukiko.") For the rest of the day, he was getting advice from his dad, some advice he thought no father should tell his son but this was Isshin and he was no normal dad and now even right now, just when Ichigo thought that Isshin had run out of advice, he was came out with even more.

"Now son, if you're going to be up to anything in your room, make sure you keep the noise down-"

"DAD! We're underage, why you encouraging us to do it?!"

"I know what you youngsters are up to these days. Not abiding by the rules but as I say, rules are meant to be broken!"

"Jeez, old man."

"And to make the mood right, have this." Isshin passed Ichigo a CD. Ultimate Love Songs Collection. Ichigo just shook his head in exasperation.

"Believe me boy, this will make the mood just right. Put this on and you'll be having the time of your life. This was mine and your mother's favourite CD and, wow, the things we got up to-"

"I get it!" Ichigo really didn't want to know what his parents got up to back in their hey days. A knock on the door rang loud in the room. Ichigo paled slightly as panic kicked in.

"She's here! She's here!" Isshin was bouncing around the room, not helping Ichigo's nerves at all. Tsukiko began smoothing down Ichigo's shirt and fluffed up his unruly orange hair.

"It'll be fine, just be cool like you're always are." Ichigo nodded his head and took a deep breath before shouting at his dad to get lost. Isshin began to wail and ran upstairs to his room. Tsukiko gave Ichigo a reassuring smile before going over to open up the door.

"Hello Orihime. Wow,you look so pretty." Gushed Tsukiko, admiring Orihime's outfit.

"Thank you." Orihime blushed. Tsukiko ushered her inside.

"Look at the two of you. You both look great!" Ichigo and Orihime looked at one another. Tsukiko was right, Orihime did look really pretty dressed in a pink and white dress and her orange hair flowing around her. The pair were too embarrassed to say anything.

"OK, I'm going now. Have fun." Tsukiko smiled before bouncing out the room, leaving a nervous Ichigo and Orihime to try and have a romantic evening together and to finally confess everything.

_**Opposite Toto's Coffee House**_

'_Where is she?!'_ That was all Grimmjow could think about as he sat on his usual bench right opposite Toto's. Tonight was going to be different because tonight he was going to confront the clumsy girl and scold her for not bringing him his lunch. How dare she let him starve at work! He had been reduced to taking random food off Grass Head Yoshi and L the Human Halibel, but not Chubby Bags Ken. After seeing him licking his fingers while he was eating and dipping the same fingers back into his bento box to pick out more food, he decided he want to see the mission out and not be killed by his manager's saliva. He may be quite a unrefined eater but even he had standards and no way was he going to share germs with Ken, it was bad enough working with the guy, he didn't need his dirty germs living in his body as well. Another person he had to scold, well not scold, more like chop him up and use him for burger meat, was Gin. Gin had spent time with L, talking about the events with Grimmjow and clumsy girl and when Grimmjow finally got off from his shift and arrived back at his temporary abode, he came back to the mother of all teasing. Gin always teased him but this was a new level for him. Singing childish songs and stupid remarks. No matter how much he threatened and shouted at Gin, it only seemed to make it worse. Grimmjow was busy thinking of new ways he could torture Gin and didn't notice the girl who he had come to stalk over the weeks, open up and begin her shift. The strange reiatsu from the girl washed over him and that was when he finally noticed.

'_Right, time to have a lil 'chat' with clumsy girl'_ He strode over towards the building, frown firmly in place, words carefully chosen and ready to do some shouting. He got to the front door, raising his fist to bang on the glass, when he paused for a moment. Something was not right. The atmosphere he had become accostumed to when he was watching her, was off by a long way. She wasn't doing any of the amusing things she did when cleaned, she was just standing by the counter, slowly wiping it boredly with her cloth. It was if all the life had been sucked out of her but what happened next shocked him more. Tiny drops of tears which were barely noticeable, splashed onto the counter. Not seeming to care, she carried on cleaning and carried on silently crying.

'_What the fuck she crying for? So weak.'_ He tutted to himself but that pain in his chest and stomach had come back to haunt him. He noticed it only happened when someone was talking about her or he actually saw her.

'_Stupid girl's put some kind of magic on me.'_ He wasn't impressed. He banged hard on the door. The girl jumped slightly and quickly wiped away her tears on her sleeve before heading to the door to tell the person to go away but when she looked through the glass to see who it was she was very surprised. She unlocked the door but only opened it a tiny bit.

"I'm sorry but it's closed." She said in a tired, dull voice.

"I know that, stupid! I came here to talk." Grimmjow pushed the door open, walked past her and pulled up a seat. Tsukiko looked over at him before closing the door once again. She really just wanted to get on with her work and not be disturbed since she was feeling really low and now the last person she wanted to see was lounging around on a seat right in front of her.

"Do you want a coffee?" She asked. If he was going to stay a bit, might as well dose him with some coffee.

"Yeah, just black coffee, none of the fancy shit on it." She walked round the counter and began sorting out the stuff she needed. Grimmjow just watched her silently preparing the coffee machine. Something was wrong with her tonight, she wasn't her usual annoyingly happy self which he kind of liked about her. She was just… miserable, but why?! Was it because of what happened the other night? It couldn't be! She placed the hot coffee on the table in front of him and began to clean the floor. Grimmjow took a sip of his coffee whilst thinking of not what to say to her but how to say it since he feared making her more miserable-

'_Wait a second! Since when did I care about her?! She's nothing to me. Just some girl who knows that stupid shinigami. Just a way to get some information about him, nothing more, nothing less!'_

"Where was my lunch today?" He asked her gruffly.

"I forgot." She replied

'_You forgot, or you couldn't be bothered?!'_ Thought Grimmjow.

"Thanks to you, I was fucking hungry all day!" He took another sip from his coffee.

"Sorry." She said so quietly he could barely hear her.

'_Ok then…maybe the rough approach isn't the best way. Gotta try and be nice.'_

"But…I do like them. You're a good cook." He said, hoping that flattery would get him somewhere.

"I'm glad you like them." She carried on cleaning the floor with a passive look on her face.

'_What the hell is wrong with her?! She's pissing me off with this pathetic act!'_

"Look woman. I dunno what the hell is wrong with ya but ya need to cheer up!" She dropped her mop on the floor and went over to him, pulling up a chair with her and sat down next to him. He watched her fiddling with her fingers nervously, like she was ready to say something but to afraid to do it. Maybe all he need to do was be really, really nice to her if she was going to be any use to him in his mission.

"What's ya name then, woman?"

"S-Sasaki Tsukiko."

"Grimm-" He almost gave his whole name then. Can't risk the orange haired target from finding out if clumsy girl started talking about him.

"Grimm...Nice to meet you." She said but from how she said it, it didn't sound like it was nice to meet him.

"Alright now that's out the way, ya gonna come out with me tomorrow." She looked at him in surprise. If he was looking in a mirror right now, he would be looking at himself in surprise too. Why on earth did he just say that? And where did that idea come from? Well it was too late now.

"OK."

She just accepted.

"Good. Meet outside here at 12 o'clock." She nodded her head at him.

'_This is for the mission. This is for the mission.'_ He kept telling himself over and over again as he finished off his coffee. Light chuckling was lost in the air as Gin leaned against the wall away from the coffee house door and smirked.

'_Young love, isn't it so great?'_

**Stayed up late just to finish this chapter! Now I can finally go to bed! Review for my hard work please, people!**

**Next Chapter: Grimmjow tries to cheer up Tsukiko on his little fun day, Gin continues his teasing and could Grimmjow be falling in love? Or is it just his dodgy gigai making him feel weird? **


	7. IT'S NOT A DATE! or is it?

**Damn! Sorry for this late update, so many things going on right now (mainly starting back at college, GRRR!) and thank you people for the reviews, keep them rolling in. Now, without further delay, I bring to you Chapter 7!**

**Chapter 7: IT'S NOT A DATE!!...or is it?**

_**A Busy Morning in Grimmjow's Apartment**_

'_Blue shirt? Red shirt? No shirt. Maybe t-shirt. No. Definitely a shirt…or maybe t-shirt and shirt…nah I'll stick with the shirt…'_ For one who was _only_ hanging out with some clumsy girl he hardly knew and claimed not to like, Grimmjow was putting in quite a lot of effort to make himself look uber suave and this did not go unnoticed by Gin, who was lounging happily on Grimmjow's double bed, reading a _Vanity Fair_ magazine, occasionally peering over the top to look at Grimmjow in amusement.

"Ne Grimm-chan, why ya getting all dressed up for? Are ya going somewhere nice?"

"You know exactly what I'm up to." Grimmjow mumbled, searching his wardrobe for some jeans or some trousers, he hadn't really decided what type to wear yet.

"All this preparing, ya been up for hours primping yaself silly. The only reason ya would take a shower three times **and **do ya hair is that…" He stopped to flick over the page in the magazine.

"Ya going on a date." Grimmjow gulped. That word had being swirling around in his mind like an unpleasant after- taste, no matter how many times he had convinced himself that it was most defiantly **NOT **a date. The very thought of it was ludicrous.

"It's not a date! As I've told you so many bloody times! She knows that Kurosaki idiot so I'm gonna get some information out of her, finish this mission and get back to Las Noches."

"Oh right…ok." Gin sighed and carried on reading. Grimmjow stopped rooting around in his wardrobe and spun round to look at Gin suspiciously, waiting for some teasing, some witty remark, since he let that subject drop far too quickly.

"Are ya waiting for something?" Gin said without once looking up from his reading.

"Ermm, no…" Grimmjow didn't really sound very sure about it but resumed picking out the rest of his outfit.

"But ya know… since this is a date, ya gotta treat her like a delicate flower, no heavy handedness. She's not some wild animal ya know. She's a human being, so careful not to hurt her." Gin chuckled heartily. The wardrobe began to growl and shake, well it sounded like it growled but it was just a very annoyed Grimmjow, who angrily turned around and glared at the other man.

"IT'S NOT A FUCKING DATE!!"

_**A Quiet Morning in the Kurosaki Household**_

Sitting at the dining table with the sound of the kitchen clock hands ticking away, Tsukiko was mulling over whether or not she should go and hang out with 'Grimm'. It was really a spur of the moment thing that she agreed without thinking it through properly and she really didn't feel like going out today, preferring just for some nice quiet time alone but it would be rude of her not to turn up at all after such a kind invitation.

'_What to do. What to do.'_

Footsteps carefully padded down the stairs and a quiet high pitched, girlish giggling was heard entering the room.

"Shhh! Ya gonna wake up the family." Warned Ichigo as the pair glided past Tsukiko without realising she was there sitting quietly, watching everything.

"I had a really good time yesterday." Smiled Orihime. Ichigo raised an eyebrow suggestively.

"Only good?"

"He he, it was great." She giggled sweetly, before grabbing hold of the door handle but she didn't turn it, not very sure how to say goodbye or if she should say anything else. It seemed Ichigo was in the same predicament, not really knowing what to say as the pair just stared at one another for a couple of moments.

"Sooo…I'll call ya later then." Ichigo finally said, rubbing the back of his head.

"Oh, ok then." Replied Orihime, before reaching up and planting a kiss on Ichigo's lips. Smiling, she opened up the door and waved him goodbye. Ichigo closed the door and a feeling of victory was welling up inside him. He had finally become a man, as his dad would probably tell him later. A little smug smirk crept across his face.

'_Oh yes.'_ Thought Ichigo, happy at his accomplishment. He turned around and his eyes met glazed purple eyes as they watched him with pride. Ichigo almost shouted in surprise, falling back against the door, clutching his chest.

"Dammit! Tsukiko, I-I didn't see ya there."

"It is good to see my mission was a complete success." She commented.

"Mission? Ermm, yeah…well, I guess I owe it all to you, so thanks." He said sheepishly. Tsukiko smiled and nodded before going back to more sorrowful pondering. Ichigo, though not very good sometimes at noticing when something is wrong, did notice that there was something wrong with her. Sitting down opposite her, he leaned his arms on the table and watched her carefully.

"Is there something wrong?" He asked. The question caught her by surprise and she began stumbling over her words.

"Ermm…ermmm…no, there is nothing wrong." **WRONG ANSWER!** And she damn well knew it! But she didn't want to worry him with her silly worries, like whether or not she should been going out today with a total stranger, whose bed she ended up in when she was attacked by a group of wild men. Or that she was worrying whether or not she would see her brother ever again and feeling regret about the last words she said to him was that she hated him? OR the fact that she wanted so much more out of her life and, dare she say it, desperately wanting to meet that special mate that was made especially for her, since in her world she was in the prime of her life and men should be falling over themselves to court her. That would be true but the only other men apart from her brother and servants she had come into contact with was a handsome but very disturbing young nobleman, who ended up being banned from coming within a 10 mile radius of her or risk being chopped to little pieces after some 'misunderstanding' but that was a whole other story altogether.

Ichigo didn't seem convinced with her answer and just continued staring at her sceptically. Tsukiko sighed, knowing she had to satisfy him with some kind of explanation.

"I am just missing the palace…and my brother."

"Oh right." He hadn't even considered that she might be home sick, since she was having so much fun to care and she didn't show her sadness at all, she was always very happy and upbeat.

"But don't worry about me. How was your special evening?" She quickly changed back to her cheerful self and changing the subject in the process.

"Oh, yeah, it was great, we had a really good night and the food ya made for us was real tasty."

"That's good. And it did sound like you did have a great time, because when I came back I heard some funny noises from your room." Ichigo immediately paled and grimaced as sweat began trickling down the side of his face.

"Yes, a lot of heavy breathing and squeaky, squeaky, bangy, bangy noises. I guessed you two were just playing some kind of strange game in your room, so I decided it was best not to intrude and slept in the living room."

'_So glad you didn't come in.'_ Thought Ichigo, realising how close he was to the worst kind of embarrassment and also pretty surprised at her naivety.

"Y-Yeah, we were just playing a game." He laughed nervously. An awkward silence lingered in the air. Tsukiko's lips were quivering as a question tickled her tongue but was unsure whether to ask. She decided to leave it be, having thought now not to ask as she got up from the table.

"Where you going?" Asked Ichigo, watching her walk to the bottom of the stairs.

"I'm going to go out for the day, I'll be back later."

"By yourself?"

"Ermmm, no not really… with a friend."

"A friend? A friend who works in the coffee house?" Questioned Ichigo.

"…Yeah, a friend…from the coffee house." Tsukiko said slowly and very unconvincingly. Eyebrows were raised high on Ichigo's face but before he could ask any more questions about her 'friend', she had disappeared upstairs to get herself changed.

_**11:55pm outside Toto's**_

Waiting nervously-

"**I'm not nervous!!"**

Sorry, I mean, waiting _**patiently**_ outside of Toto's, scowl on his face was Grimmjow. He had finally settled on the perfect outfit, which also seemed to look like the simplest since it was only a white shirt, a black jacket, baggy black jeans and a pair of black converse. How Aizen would be proud of him looking like a **'hip and trendy young person'**. Grimmjow had rushed out the apartment, away from Gin's unwanted advice and had ended up waiting outside earlier than expected. But it wasn't because he was so desperate to see the clumsy girl's beautiful angelic face and having her all for himself for a whole day. Nope. He was simply just trying to get away from Gin.

'_Remember, this is for the mission. This is my one way ticket back to that Hueco Mundo. I can't believe I'm so desperate to get back to that shithole…hmmm I guess this should be fun, gotta try and be nice and maybe…smile…nah, that's just going over the top.'_

"Ermmm, hello-"

'_I wonder what she will be wearing. Wouldn't mind seeing those legs of hers…OK! Grimmjow, get a fucking grip! Remember, business before pleasure…"_

"Grimm?"

'_Since when did I put anything before pleasure? Wow, this place has fucked me up real bad, I'm not myself, I'm losing my fucking marbles!!'_

"Are you alright?" A soft, warm thing was felt on his arm. Snapping his head round, he saw the girl who he was waiting to meet and she had a confused look on her face.

"Of course I'm fine!" He snapped at her, making her recoil slightly. He mentally sighed, remembering it was better to be nice than to be a moody grump.

"Sorry." He said.

She bowed her head slightly but didn't utter a word. He took the time to give her the once over. Black boots over black skinny fit jeans and a white shirt underneath a black tank top and over all of that, was a long black coat. Her hair was tied back but in a low ponytail.

'_Very impressive.'_ Noted Grimmjow before he smacked her lightly on the back, waking her up.

"Come on woman, crack a smile, I gonna spoil you rotten today, so ya better be happy and appreciate it." He told her before starting to walk off. She silently followed him, still very much sad and deep in thought.

'_This is gonna be a long day.' _

_**Sitting inside Burgerama Burger Bar**_

He knew very well where he was, sitting inside some cheap burger place for a quick lunch but he had grown fond of the meaty things because they were so nice and…meaty and he thought that this was the best place to take her and this would be the first step in his own little interlinking side mission; make her turn into that annoying bubbly person again and get some info on Kurosaki. Well that was the plan anyway. While he was ramming down an enormous three burger layered monstrosity in his greedy mouth, she just sat there chewing on her fries absent- mindedly, not feeling the least bit hungry at all. He looked up to see her taking a tiny sip from her milkshake. If this was the time to get information, now was the time. Gin's wise words of wisdom were on a loop in his mind,

'_**Ya gotta treat her like a delicate flower, no heavy handedness.**_**' **

"So woman-"

"It's Tsukiko."

"Huh?"

"My name. It's Tsukiko, not woman, please address me by that." She said quietly, stunning Grimmjow for a brief moment.

'_H-How dare she?! Who does she think she is?! I'll call her whatever I want!!'_ But just to earn his way into her good books he took note of that comment and corrected himself.

"Yeah, fine, ok, _Tsukiko_, what's the deal with you?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, why have ya been following me around like some lost puppy and giving me lunch at work? Because it's just weird." She paused for a moment, chip dangling out her mouth. The question did surprise her and to be honest, she had forgotten really why on earth she did it in the first place. Of all the people in the world, she had chosen him for some reason. When she did all the nice things for him, she got a fizzing feeling inside her but she always thought she was just hungry, and even now, that fizzy feeling was there and yet, she had done nothing for him, in fact it was **him **doing things for her, so why? She looked back at him to see his face twisted in slight annoyance and realised she hadn't answered his question.

"I don't know."

It was like getting blood from a stone. Maybe he should try Gin's way of doing things, as much as he wished he wouldn't. After reading so many bloody women's magazines, he was practically an expert on all things feminine and randomly sprouted out random advice at random times and places, like the time he was having a nice shower and Gin managed to get in the bathroom and poked his creepy head through the shower curtains and said, _**"A way to a woman's heart is chocolates, jewellery and romantic dinner dates."**_ And slipped his head back out again, leaving Grimmjow deeply disturbed and mentally reminding himself to put a bunch of locks on the bathroom door. He should try to get to know her and eventually the vital information would just stream out (Yet another one of Gin's advice.) He thought long and hard for a question that would require her to talk a lot and not just give a couple of words in response.

"Ok then, tell me about yourself. Tell me everything."

"Everything?" She said confused.

"Yes, everything, anything you can think of, just talk to me!" Grimmjow was smiling at her enthusiastically but it was a really demented smile, which put her off a little but she complied and began telling Grimmjow her 'life story'.

_**Talkative hours later**_

"And that is how I got a free car." She had finished one of her many stories that she had told him one of her many adventures that she had so far in the World of the Living. It seemed like she was slowly getting back to her normal self, she even managed to laugh as Grimmjow told a few jokes. It was just like having a nice friendly lunch but now Grimmjow couldn't help but think that maybe this is like a date, I mean, he's done the whole romantic dinner thing, well not so much romantic, or even dinner but it was a nice lunch and yet the whole time he was memorized by her large, bright, purple eyes, the way she laughed, the elegant hand movements when she got a bit too excited, her beautiful white hair, her-

'_Wait a minute… Wait just a minute. This is all wrong. I'm not falling for her. She's nice yeah, but my will is strong! Besides, she's no woman, she's a girl, maybe a young woman, but I go for hot, sexy women!'_

Grimmjow checked the time and thought it was best to leave now and continue his campaign. The pair got up and left the burger joint, stepping out into the bustle of the shopping crowd.

"Where are we going now?" She asked him. He simply tapped his nose and gave a smirk.

"That would be telling."

He left her feeling intrigued and walked along side him into the crowd, passing many pretty shop displays. Grimmjow had mentally ticked off box number one on his **'Woo Clumsy Girl'** agenda list. It was a kind of success since he got her talking but her mood was still murky. Number two on his list would surely cheer her up no end. All this plotting and scheming was making him feel…happy?! It was shocking! Unbelievable! The hardest espada in the whole of Hueco Mundo, the manic killing machine from the depths of darkness was happy and it wasn't because he was hurting someone, quite the opposite. Something was seriously wrong with him, no not something, **someone!** The beautiful clumsy girl. Speaking of her, Grimmjow looked to his side and saw that she wasn't there.

'_Dammit! I lost her. Where the heck-'_ Seeing a small crowd behind him, there was a little flash of white which caught his eye, lying on the ground, before it was blocked by yet another person. With a good idea of who was on the ground, he dashed over and pushed the crowd apart. His thoughts had been confirmed when he saw said clumsy girl lying on the ground.

'_Shit!'_

"Buzz off! There's nothing to see here! Come on, get lost!" He shooed away the crowd and turned his attention back to the girl, lying sprawled out on her stomach unconscious. Panic spread through him along with genuine concern.

'_Jeez, I fucking killed her. Making her eat those delicious burgers, practically stuffing them in her mouth. So much for my plan.'_ Sighing, he scooped her up off the floor and found a nearby bench and lay her down on it, only to see her toss over onto her side and sigh.

"What the…**" **leaning in close to her face, just to make sure what he was thinking was actually correct.

"She's…she's fucking asleep!!" Filled with anger, he roughly turned her around and shook her shoulders.

"Woman, wake up." She didn't.

"Woman!" Shaking her again and still no response.

"WOMAN!! YOU BETTER WAKE UP OR SO HELP ME-" Her eyes snapped open with fierce, fiery rage, her hands grabbed him by the front of his shirt and she began shaking the life out of him.

"WHAT ON EARTH DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING?! MAKING SO MUCH NOISE!! HOW DARE YOU WAKE ME UP FROM MY SLEEP, YOU MORON!! I WOULD KILL YOU RIGHT NOW IF I WASN'T SO TIRED!!" She roared at him, all the while violently shaking him like a rag doll.

'_You're bloody killing me now, ya crazy woman!'_

"DON'T.DISTURB.ME.AGAIN!" She warned him on last time before flopping back down on the bench, back into a deep slumber. That was most possibly the strangest thing that has ever happened to him in his entire existence.

_**Wandering around inside a familiar shop**_

After the shock of her violent outrage _(Note to self: Never, EVER, get her angry or wake her up. Could result in my early demise)_ Grimmjow had waited patiently for the sleeping princess to wake up by herself and when she did, she was back to being mildly miserable. It was like she had a split personality. She had apologized to him so many times for her little outburst and tried to justify why on earth she suddenly just dropped down on the ground into a slumber ("I have a sleeping disorder, so I could drop down asleep at any moment in time." She lied and impressively he believed it.)

Now they were inside a shop that Grimmjow had dragged her into. She was staring into the shop window in wonder and Grimmjow had noticed it. No matter how many times she said she didn't want to go in, he still dragged her in. Really, he was regretting going in now. As soon as he saw the colourful items, he wanted to gag but he saw how amazed and happy she looked so he couldn't refuse.

"This is amazing." She gasped, spinning around right in the middle of the shop floor of the Disney store.

"Yeah, amazing." He replied sarcastically, staring evilly at the happy colourful plushie toys.

"Wow, this is really pretty." She ran over to the little princess costumes, stretching the bottom of the dress out to inspect it's fabric.

"Bit small for ya ain't it?" Grimmjow noted as indeed it was for a little child.

"Yes, it is isn't it…oh wow, come look at this." She latched hold on to his wrist and pulled him towards some ornament looking thingys. He looked down at her hand on his wrist. It was really soft and warm, something he wasn't used to at all and it felt good and the funny feeling he got was worse than before.

'_She really has done something to me.'_

The pair stood in front of some glass shelves, holding on various Disney merchandise; cups, cutlery but she was more interested in the various sized snow globes. She had never seen anything like those before and they were truly fascinating as she stood, mouth agape and eyes inquisitive, staring at an Alice in Wonderland themed one.

"Pretty…" She managed to say, gently touching the glass with a finger.

"Do ya want it?"

"Huh?" She looked at him in surprise.

"Do. You. Want. It?" He asked again slowly as if she couldn't understand what he was saying.

"Oh, ermm, no, I mean, it's very pretty and-" Before she could ramble anymore, Grimmjow had grabbed it and made his way to the checkout.

"Grimm? What are you doing?" She protested.

"I'm buying it for ya."

"You don't have to do that. Please put it back."

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"Yes."

"No…"

"Yes." This was getting quite annoying now, arguing in the middle of the Disney store over buying a stupid snow globe.

"No! Now shut up and let me bloody pay for it!!" Grimmjow finally said, putting her in her place and went to the checkout girl to pay for the blasted thing.

_**Strolling around in the evening**_

Tsukiko was having one of the best times of her life. Grimm turned out to be such great company, obliterating her previous thoughts that he was just a miserable, antisocial man who had anger problems. He was so funny and kind. She was still feeling awkward that she had let him buy her so many things. Apart from the snow globe, he bought her other gifts including a giant stuffed teddy bear and an expensive silver bracelet, which she almost died when she saw the price tag, but it seemed he didn't mind at all. Literally throwing his cash around (Might as well since he wasn't going to be here in The World of The Living for much longer.)

"Grimm?" She said, taking a lick of her chocolate and raspberry ice-cream, which he also bought and carrying a selection of shopping bags in her hand.

"Yeah?" He replied, slurping on his chocolate and mint ice-cream.

"…Thank you."

"Huh? Why ya thanking me?"

"For such a nice time and for buying me these gifts, which you really didn't have to buy. Wasting your money on me for no reason-"

"Enough!" He suddenly shouted, almost making her jump and drop her ice-cream cone.

"Stop saying that. I wanted to buy them, so just accept them alright?!" She quickly nodded her head and carried on eating her ice-cream but he noticed her give a tiny smile.

'_Back to her normal self, just about and it took all those gifts to do it. Women can be so difficult.'_ But he was happy that she was happy, not that he would ever admit to that.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't Grim Reaper." Grimmjow sighed after hearing a familiar voice behind him. Only one person was stupid enough to call him that and that person was Ulquiorra's Clone, or Moo Moo, _or_ as he likes to call himself, Mugen. Grimmjow turned around and gave him a glare.

"Hey Grimmjow." Pink Haired Human Halibel, L, was also with him and held up her hand in greeting.

"Hey L. I see ya taking the _cow_ out for a walk." Grimmjow glanced in Mugen's direction and smirked at how easily riled up he was.

"I'm not a cow! I am a human being!" He cried out.

"Yeah, sure ya are, Moo Moo."

"IT'S MUGEN!!" He shouted in frustration and was on the verge of ripping out his hair in such frustration. Teasing Moo Moo was always so much fun.

"Anywayyy, what you doing out? And why you holding a teddy bear? I didn't think you were into that kind of thing." Mocked L

"Very funny. I'm just-"

"Hey, you're that girl! The girl who sends Grimmjow lunches all the time." L had finally spotted Tsukiko, who had taken it upon herself to hide slightly behind Grimmjow, in a desperate attempt to stay out of sight.

"Hello." She politely said to the pink haired lady.

"Hey. I'm L, he's Mugen."

"My name is Tsukiko."

"Tsukiko? That's a cool name." Tsukiko smiled in embarrassment, not use to compliments. Suddenly it was all quiet as L was suddenly busy inspecting the situation.

Teddy bears.

Ice-cream for two.

Gift bags.

Grimmjow out with a girl in the evening. L suddenly gasped.

"I don't believe it, you little liar!" Grimmjow just looked at her confused.

"What ya blabbering about woman?" L was nudging Mugen in the side and using her eyes to communicate her thoughts to him. Mugen watched her and then looked at Grimmjow and Tsukiko and then his eyes lit up with all knowing, somehow managing to understand what she was getting at.

"Oh my God!"

"What?! What the hell is wrong with you two?!" L looked at Mugen, who nodded before looking straight into Grimmjow's eyes with such seriousness and said,

"Are you two on a date?"

That D word again!! He had had enough of hearing and thinking of that word. In his mind, that word shouldn't be allowed to even exist! He didn't have a reasonable witty comeback for that instead he settled for,

"Screw you!!" and dashed off, dragging a very confused Tsukiko with him.

After making sure he had gotten as far away from the terrible two as possible, he slowed down back to his normal walking pace. Tsukiko wanted to ask him what that was all about but from the expression on his face, it was best not to ask. The hands on the clock tower ticked around high up in front of them. It was getting late.

"Grimm?"

"What?"

"I need to be leaving now." Grimmjow suddenly stopped in his tracks to face her. She couldn't leave now! She just couldn't! He had enjoyed his time with her so much and it just went so quickly. The strange feeling was creeping back inside him again, unsettling him somewhat.

"Oh right." He said, trying to mask his disappointment.

'_You can't go, woman! It hasn't technically been a full day yet! 12, woman! The day finishes at 12 It's not 12!!' _He shouted his bizarre excuse in his head.

"Thank you for everything. You really cheered me up. I hope we can do this again sometime." She smiled. He grimaced in his mind. That smile of hers really wasn't making things any easier.

"Yeah."

'_Sometime?! Not sometime! Tomorrow, maybe the day after tomorrow and the day after that!'_

"Well then, goodbye." She wrapped her arms round his chest and leaned her head on him in a nice friendly hug.

'_Bloody hell woman! I can't take this anymore!!'_

She released him and prised away her teddy bear from his grip. Giving him one last smile she began to walk away…

"WAIT!"

She spun round to see what he wanted but was suddenly grabbed by the wrist rather roughly and being hauled down the street.

"Grimm, what are you doing? I have to go back home." Without looking at her, he began saying random words, which could be translated as,

"Coffee. My apartment. Come **now**!"

Tsukiko was getting a bit scared at his sudden change in behaviour. It was as if he didn't know what he was doing, and neither did she.

_**Dragged back to Grimmjow's apartment**_

The front door flew open as Grimmjow dragged her inside. Tsukiko was in such a daze, not knowing fully where on earth she was since it all just happened so fast but then guess that it was his apartment.

'_Wow, it's really nice here.'_ She thought to herself as her eyes cast over his living room but she remembered that she had to tell him that she really had to get back, all that walking about had made her feel quite sleepy and she needed an early night.

"Grimm, really, I need-" Her words dissolved away, she wanted to speak but couldn't, not because she had lost all ability to talk but since her lips were a bit preoccupied with someone else's lips.

'_Someone else's lips?'_ Her eyes were wide open in surprise, staring at Grimmjow's face, her hands had let the bags she was holding slip out in shock as she was being given the kiss of her life. It really was the kiss of her life, so passionate, so warm and she enjoyed it! They broke apart for a brief moment.

"Y-You…Y-You kissed me…" she managed to say. Grimmjow just stared at her, as if to say "So what?" He didn't care, he was on a roll now. He had too much energy, he was buzzing with hyperactivity and something had to be done about that. Yet again, he grabbed hold of her wrist and dragged her out the living room towards his room.

"I thought we were having coffee." She asked.

"No coffee." He pushed open the door.

"Are we going to play a game?" She asked, suddenly excited, remembering what Ichigo had told her. Grimmjow raised an eyebrow deviously, knowing now how innocent she really was. He nodded his head slowly and closed the door behind them.

"Wait a minute…this isn't a game."

**Woohoo! Grimmjow, you naughty lil espada you! Tut Tut! Thanks for reading! Reviews, readers reviews please. Ciao for now!**

**Next Chapter: The morning after, calamity at Ichigo's house and will Grimmjow finally admit to his feelings? Will this finally be the day Ichigo catches Grimmjow? Will Gin give up his addiction for girly magazines? Yeah right! **


	8. Secrets and Truths Revealed!

**Such controversy in the last chapter, but readers this is all part of my clever masterful plan, but still, she is so very innocent poor girl, but then again, this is Grimmjow we are talking about here. Anyway, here's chapter 8!**

**Chapter 8: Secrets and Truths Revealed!**

**_A Very Regretful Morning After In Grimmjow's Bed Of Love_**

Eyelids twitched about and a lazy sigh of tiredness was heard in the quiet room. Eyes were hazily peering through the slowly opening eyelids, trying to grow accustom to the dimly lit room. Tsukiko looked straight in front of her but all she saw was some strange thing in front of her.

'_The closet is usual darker than this in the morning and more cramped.'_ She thought, stretching her legs out fully underneath the covers. Her heart almost skipped a beat when she felt something strange and warm but also familiar by her legs. She moved her foot up it and gasped when it moved! And the bed started to move and creak, like a mini earthquake was going to occur.

'_What's going on?'_ She thought in fear but all her thoughts was confirmed when her view was changing and revealed a sleeping face to her. A sleeping face which had vibrant teal bangs obscuring his closed eyes. That was the moment everything hit home and realised the reckless thing she had let herself do the previous night.

'_Impossible! I could not have done…I could not have done it!'_ She shivered unconsciously in fright as she slowly lifted up the sheets before quickly dropping them again after noticing their indecency.

'_I have…I have done the 'special hug'! THE SPECIAL HUG! And I am not even married! Oh no, Kenji-Nii is going to be so mad when he finds out about this. I won't be able to go back! Knowing the shame of it.'_ Her shivering increased as her thoughts were racing around like racing cars on a track in her mind. Knowing that she had to retain what was left of her dignity, but that was in a total mess, just like the clothes that were strewn across the floor, she tried to make a get away by sliding from out the bed but that was unsuccessful. Octopus like arms had unconsciously grabbed her and pulled her close to a hard wall of chest, holding her very close. Surprisingly, she found herself feeling really comfortable and sleepy again as Grimmjow's body heat was warming her up like a radiator. Ready to drift off into a sweet slumber, a gruff voice spoke up.

"What do we have here?" She cautiously strained her head up to see playful blue eyes looking into hers. Her eyes shook as did the rest of her body. He was awake, just when she was praying that he would just stay asleep forever and that she didn't have to confront him but it was too late for that now.

"Ya cold?"

She shook her head and turned her gaze back to his chest.

"Ya shivering." She didn't answer, just shivered some more.

"Shall I warm ya up some more?" He said slyly, it wasn't not really a question because no matter what her reply, he still proceeded to pull her even closer than she was already, to him. Pulled any further and she would have melting into his chest. This closeness was something she was definitely not used to, since never experiencing it ever. It was really nice but she was a princess and this was not how princesses behave. She plucked up the courage to do one thing and one thing only.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!"

Grimmjow bolted up right and covered his ears with his hands at the sudden high pitched scream.

"Jeez woman! Stop the fucking screaming! It's too early for that!" He shouted over the noise. Her scream faded to silence in a matter of seconds. Now she was free from his grip, it was her chance 

to escape. Pulling the covers around her, she slide off the bed and began collecting her clothes up off the floor.

"Where ya going?" Grimmjow asked, watching her fumbling around the ground and trying to keep her modest all at the same time.

"I-I-I need to go back home…Ichigo would be wondering where I am?"

"Ichigo? Don't tell me ya already have a boyfriend!" Grimmjow said in mock horror.

"No, he's a friend letting me stay at his house for a while." She slipped on her underwear and trousers and began buttoning up her shirt. Suddenly she felt the bed shift again and a heavy bearing weight on her shoulders.

"He wouldn't mind if you stayed a little longer here. Besides we have some unfinished…business." Grimmjow whispered smugly into her ear, twirling her loose hair around his finger. The colour had drained from her face in shock at what he was proposing. She pulled his hand away from her hair before jumping up from the bed and began quickly flattened her unruly hair, staring at him in complete mixture of embarrassment and anger.

"Y-You! How dare you! How dare do such…things to a person of such high standing!" She defiantly said, pointing her finger at him. A moment of surprise was on his face before he started to laugh heartily.

"High standing? What? Are you some important person then?" Oh dear, she almost said too much.

"W-Well, yes, kind of."

"What do you mean 'kind of'?" Probed Grimmjow.

"Exactly what it means. I'm 'kind of' important."

"Hmmmm, that sounds interesting." She gasped as she realised he had got up off the bed and was leaning over her shoulders again in his very, very unclothed state. His breath tickling her skin gently, sending chills down her spine.

"G-Get off me. I need to go now, alright. I had a great time yesterday and everything…and all the things you bought me and…goodbye" In a fluster of words, she removed herself from and dashed out the room and out of his apartment. Grimmjow just stood there, smirking like an idiot.

'_She's all mine now, whether she likes it, or not.'_

_**Sneaking guiltily back into Ichigo's room**_

Having quietly snuck back into Ichigo's house ninja style, she silently tiptoed up the stairs and towards his room.

'_Maybe if I quickly slip back into the closet, Ichigo would never know that I was missing for the whole night.'_

She carefully pushed open the door, only to be met with stern brown eyes staring at her.

'_Busted.'_

"Where have you been?!" Ichigo questioned her.

"Ermmm, I was here and there." She said. If she told him the truth, he would go mental. He pulled her into the room and closed the door behind him, his arms folded and looking at her like a disappointed parent telling off his wayward child.

"Here and there? Don't give me that! I thought you was seeing a friend."

"I did."

"So why were you out all night?" Ichigo delivered a crafty manoeuvre there to which she couldn't really reply but she was slightly annoyed now at how he was acting. Reminding her so much of her very protective brother. Stopping her from fully experiencing what it's like in the big wide world, even if it is full of weird and horrible people.

"T-That is none of your business." Time to turn the tables and get her way out of this complicated interrogation of questions. Ichigo was taken aback but frowned at her once more.

"It is my business since Urahara-san told me to look after you. And you hanging around with some friend that I don't even know."

"Listen, I may look like some teenager but I have lived many of your lifetimes. I can look after myself and what is wrong with meeting with my friend? You have not even met him so how can you-"

"HIM?!" That hit him hard in the chest. Finding out now she was hanging out with some man! A man that he didn't even know about! She was so innocent and he knew how some dodgy men could end up corrupting her. He was now starting to question what she was really up to when he was all fast asleep in the comforts of his bed while she was out and about at night, doing goodness knows what.

"Yes, he is a male."

"He didn't hurt you did he? Do anything strange?"

"Why would he? He took me out for a meal and bought me all these lovely things." She said holding up the shopping bags. Ichigo looked at them sceptically. There was a hell of a lot of things, expensive looking things in there. Something fishy was going on. No man would buy her all those costly gifts just because he wanted to. Not without getting something in return.

"Was that all that happened?" He questioned further. Now she knew he was going to get a bit further into what **really **happened.

"No…nothing else happened." Little beads of sweat dripping down the side of her face as she nervously twitched about. This didn't go unnoticed so Ichigo probed even further.

"He didn't do anything that he shouldn't have done, did he?"

"Ermm…no" Her eyes shifting from side to side anxiously.

"Tsukiko…"

"No, he never. Is it getting very hot in here?" Sweat was literally pouring from her skin as she began to fan herself with her hand frantically.

"It's cold in here. So Tsukiko, did he?"

"Did he what?"

"Did he do anything to you?" Ichigo said in exasperation, slapping a hand to his forehead. She was really stressing now.

"W-Why are you asking me all these questions?! He is a very nice person who is kind and caring and so what if he dragged me back to his house and played some games in his room and we 

ended up in his bed so…so…what…oh dear." In her stressful state she had given the whole game away completely. Ichigo's face was building with anger, ready to explode.

"Ahh, Ichigo…please just forget what I just said-"

"He did WHAT?!" Ichigo's loud voice would have lifted the roof clean off the house. She quickly dived into the comforts of his closet and closed the door, hoping to save her from her embarrassment.

"Tsukiko! Open the door!"

"No!"

"He had sex with you?! Tell what he looks like so I can go fix him up! How could you be so stupid?!" Of all the strange things that had happened when she was there, this really took the biscuit and he really was ready to just drop down with heart failure.

"I am not stupid! I knew what I was doing." No… she really didn't.

"And I might add that I actually **enjoyed** it! So what are you going to do about that?" She slapped her hands to her mouth, surprised at her sudden attitude and at such words streaming out of her innocent little mouth. Did she really enjoy it that much? The comment seemed to leave Ichigo dumb struck since he had stopped talking to absorb the information.

"I'm going to Urahara's. I think it's about time you went back home before anymore things happen." And with that, he left the room, leaving her to think about what was going on. Her mind was full of conflicting thoughts. One the one hand, Grimm was a stupid jerk for even daring to do 'those' things to her and really ruining the end to a perfect day _but,_ on the other hand he was so nice and kind to her and when she was lying in his arms, she felt so safe and comforted.

"No! I must not think like that!" She berated herself.

"He is a human. It would never work…but it did for my parents…but, I will live for much longer than he will and besides I will be marrying a wealthy nobleman and will live happily ever after…" But after saying that, it left a very sad feeling deep down in her gut.

"I will have to leave one day…and I will never see him again…what should I do, Mr Teddy?" She looked into the glassy eyes of the gigantic teddy bear sitting in front of her. Of course it wouldn't reply, it was a teddy bear for goodness sake but it felt good to let it all off her chest and knowing that the bear wouldn't say something she didn't want to hear. A faint noise of a drawer being closed was heard from outside the closet.

'_Ichigo? But I never heard the bedroom door open.'_ She slowly opened the closet door and leaned out to see Grimmjow rifling through Ichigo's drawers. Gasping in shock and horror, she fell out and landed on a heap on the ground. Grimmjow's face lit up with delight and intrigue.

"There you are."

"W-What are you doing here? How did you find me? How did you get in?" She rushed the questions, still surprised that he was in the room right in front of her.

"I came to see ya, I followed ya when ya ran out on me and the window was open so I just let myself in." He said, answering each of the questions.

"You cannot be here. Ichigo could come back anytime. Please just go." Grimmjow just snorted at her and flopped down on the bed.

"Well if that's the case, I think I might stay awhile." Tsukiko sighed, managing to stay calm despite what had happened. She climbed back into the closet and closed the door but only leaved 

it slightly open, just enough gap just to peek an eye through to make sure he doesn't do anything he shouldn't be. Hugging Mr Teddy tight to her chest, she leaned her head on top of his furry one and just sat there, feeling her heartbeat racing inside her ribcage.

"To be honest, I came to talk to you."

What did he want to talk to her about? Did he come to apologize?

"I have some pretty important things I need to say to you."

'_This sounds really serious.'_ She thought, gripping Mr Teddy even tighter around his neck. If he was alive, he would have most certainly been dead from intense strangulation.

"Alright." She replied from inside the protective closet.

"Ya know, when we first met, when ya messed up my display, I thought you were a ditzy, clumsy weirdo-"

"How dare you insult me!" She shouted at him but he started to laugh since he couldn't take her seriously when she tried to shout.

"Hey, hey come on, let me finish!"

"You have more insults to give to me?"

"…No."

"What was that pause?"

"There was no pause, now quiet, so I can finish speaking." She begrudgingly obeyed and sat and listened to what else he had to say.

"As I was saying, ya were some weirdo with weird hair but…I couldn't get ya out of my head. It didn't help when ya were stalking me nearly every day!"

"You have weird hair too and I was not stalking you!" She interrupted again, really feeling he only just came there to be rude to her.

"What did you say about my hair?" She stiffened at the seriousness in his voice.

"Ohh…I'm sorry…I did not mean to be rude but you were rude about my hair so I guess you deserved that but I think your hair is really pretty and colourful-"

"Oh stop it woman, ya gonna make me blush." She let out a muffled yelp as she saw his bright blue eyes peering playfully at her through the gap. Not wanting him to see her embarrassment, she shuffled down to the other end of the closet but realised then it was a bad idea because Grimmjow took it upon himself to get in the closet with her, closing the door behind him, trapping her inside. All was dark for a moment, until Tsukiko fumbled around and found the little lamp switch and turned it on.

"Very cosy." Commented Grimmjow. Tsukiko buried her face into Mr Teddy's head.

"So as I was _saying_, and then ya started sending me those lunches. Just made me think ya were even more of a crackpot, but I admit, I couldn't have been able to live without them ." He gave a surprising sincere smile. Tsukiko blushed even further, just wishing he would stop now and just leave.

"But when I saw ya in that coffee house, my opinion about ya changed, I saw ya in a completely different light and ya made me feel all weird inside." Grimmjow didn't know what the hell he was saying. Never in a million years would he say such things to a woman, let alone a mere mortal but he now knows that this girl was something else, someone really special, so special that he could open up to her like this.

"And yesterday just confirmed everything about you."

'_Why do I feel so giddy?'_ She thought, still holding on to Mr Teddy for dear life.

"Grimm, what are you trying to say?"

"Hmm, I guess ya can't really see it, can ya, since ya head is so full of fluffy clouds-" She frowned at that insulting statement. She was naïve, not stupid.

"So I'll just come out and say it…I love you." Her head bolted up in surprise.

"I beg your pardon."

"What? Are ya deaf? I just said I love you, now it's your turn to say it back, come on, say it **'I.Love.You.Grimm.'**" He encouraged her but she couldn't say anything, her mouth went dry. Did she feel the same way? All the things he said were exactly the same experiences for her but it just couldn't possibly work out. What if one day he found out exactly what she really was? It would frighten him off and that would devastate her if he ended up running for the hills. She couldn't risk that, so she had to set him straight.

"I can't."

"What?" That was not the answer he wanted to hear.

"I can't…it is too complicated."

"What's so damn complicated?! Just tell me if ya do or ya don't!" Grimmjow's famous fiery temper was getting the better of him.

"Please believe me, this will all end horribly. I am thinking of the both of us here." She had shifted over to him and held onto his shoulders, her eyes trying to convince him that what she was saying was the right thing but he wasn't having it.

"I don't fucking care! Just give me a bloody answer! Do you love me?!"

"Yes! But-"

'_She said yes! I knew it! She couldn't resist my charms and my devilishly handsome good looks.'_

"Grimm, listen to me-"

"I don't have to listen anymore. I've heard all I've wanted to hear." There was no stopping him, he was on top of the world, high on lurrrve.

"There is important things you need to know about me-" He grabbed hold of her face and looked deep into her eyes, so deep he was practically looking right into her soul.

"I don't care. You could be some alien from outta space, that wouldn't matter to me."

'_I guess you are not far off the truth.'_ She thought.

"I love you, you love me. That's all that matters don't it?" She nodded her head dumbly. He had a point. '_**Nothing stands in the way of love' **_Her father told her when she was little. _**'Nothing, apart from family honour, royal duties and the law but apart from that, Nothing stands in the way of love.'**_ This was her only chance of true love. He was probably that 'special 

someone' but she couldn't keep from her mind that she was going to be ripped away from him forever and arranged to be married off to someone she didn't love. She suddenly started to cry.

"What's the matter?"

"I am scared that when I leave that I will never see you ever again and…and you will forget all about me and…and-" A finger was placed to her lips to silence her.

"We'll never part, if I have to follow you around forever then that's what I'll do, ya daft woman." The last remnants of her tears have dripped down her face as she was being slowly pulled towards him like a magnet. She instinctively puckered up her lips as his face was getting closer and closer. This was like a dream, a fantastical dreamy, dream and poor Mr Teddy was getting squashed under her, clearly not a dream for this stuffed animal. Their lips were just mere centimetres away, centimetres away from sealing their love with a kiss.

"Hey Tsukiko, great news! I talked with Urahara-san and-" Ichigo had bounded into the room with glee and without knocking had flung open the closet door. It was like a nightmare, a weird twisted nightmare. There in his closet, was a half demon cat princess from another dimension about to lock lips with the one person who he despised with every bone in his body, the possible the most dangerous and craziest espada on the whole planet. Tsukiko turned her head to look at a horrified Ichigo, her lips still pouting.

"Ichigo…I can explain everything-"

"W-What…what…GRIMMJOW!!" He finally managed to say. Grimmjow gave him a cocky grin, despite knowing that his cover had been well and truly blown and he was stuck in a closet.

"Kurosaki, can't ya see I'm busy here with my woman." The pure audacity from this man was unbelievable.

"YOUR WOMAN?! Tsukiko!!"

"Ichigo, he is my friend, his name is-"

"Grimmjow Jaegerjaques, I know!" Ichigo grabbed the front of Grimmjow's shirt and pulled him out the closet before quickly changing into shinigami form.

"Ichigo-"

"Stay in there! It's gonna get pretty violent." Grimmjow knew he couldn't do anything in his gigai- wait, that thing, that candy thing that could be used in emergencies. He rummaged around his pockets, all the while trying to avoid Ichigo's punches and produced the Soul Candy. Quickly popping one in his mouth, he was torn away from his temporary body and was ready for a proper fight. The adrenaline rush was overflowing and he had spent ages bottling up the extreme violence he so loved and he was all the more happy to dish it out to the orange haired shinigami. So fast that they eye couldn't see, the pair obliterated the bedroom wall as they took their battle to the great outdoors. Carefully opening up the door, Tsukiko peered out from behind her barrier and saw a great gaping hole in the wall.

"What just happened?" She looked around trying to search for the two men. A loud snoring noise was heard. Searching around for the sound, she looked down on the floor and well, it was very odd. Grimmjow's gigai seemed to be a very lazy, sleepy gigai and decided to have a little nap. That wasn't odd, but using Ichigo's shell of a body as a mattress was a very peculiar sight as the gigai was lying face down on top of Ichigo's body in a deep slumber, mouth wide open, snoring. If anyone was to come in now, they would most definitely get a wrong impression.

"Grimm, get off him, he is not a bed." She got down and nudged at the gigai, who refused to move.

"Get up." The gigai turned over, his tired looking face looking at her.

"Not Grimmjow-sama, I'm Yuki. I come from candy." He said in a childish voice.

"From candy?" The gigai nodded his head sleepily.

"So where is Grimm- Grimmjow then?"

"Outside fighting an Orange. Yuki go sleep now." And he did exactly that. Tsukiko gasped upon hearing that a battle was raging.

'_I need to stop them. But I cannot stop them as I am…Uncle Urahara gave me something…'_ She looked back at Yuki and then remembered that she too had one of those things. Searching around in the closet, she managed to find it behind her pillow. She quickly popped one in her mouth and was separated from her gigai.

"Please stay here and look after them." She told the gigai. It bowed and sat crossed legged by Grimmjow and Ichigo and just stared at them. Tsukiko ran to the hole in the wall and looked out but couldn't see them anywhere.

"Need to get to higher ground." She climbed up onto the roof and scoped out across the horizon. Luckily she saw spotted them by their hair and bounded from rooftop to rooftop to stop them.

_**Fighting in the air some way away**_

Clashing of swords as Ichigo, who had since went into Bankai mode, and Grimmjow were fighting above the rooftops. Ichigo's mind was still all mush after finding his enemy in his closet about to kiss the girl who he was suppose to be looking after.

"What the hell are you doing here?!" The question caught Grimmjow by surprise. He was here for a fight, not have a little gossip over some coffee.

"That's really none of ya business…" But he saw Ichigo's angry face and thought it would be fun to wind him up even more, see how angry he can really get, THEN that would result in a great fight.

"But since ya asked so nicely…just here to spy on ya, but it wasn't worth it cuz there is nothing interesting about ya." Ichigo pressed his sword against Grimmjow's but said nothing.

"Oh and how's Orihime? That little girlfriend of yours, ya know she really is quite attractive. Now if ya would introduce me to her-"

"Shut the fuck up, ya crazy freak! Don't you talk about her!" Ichigo snarled, making Grimmjow laugh.

"Oh please, she's all yours. I wouldn't touch her if she was the last woman on this measly planet. I have my own woman." Ichigo narrowed his eyes at the other man and then thought of Tsukiko when he said that and that's when something clicked in his head. This was her so called 'friend'. And this so called friend-

"I'm gonna kill you for what you did to Tsukiko!" Grimmjow looked at him blankly.

"What ya talking about?"

"You know exactly what I'm talking about!" Ichigo's face was leaning really close to Grimmjow's, trying to intimidate him.

"You…you slept with her…ya filthy arrancar hands all over her! WHY?!" Grimmjow gave him a smug smirk before saying,

"Because I could. I had nothing better to do and just using her to get you. I knew she was friends with ya so I just had to get a bit friendly with her. Clever, wasn't it?"

"YOU-" Ichigo was ready to start violently swinging his sword around, hoping to lop off Grimmjow's head so he could stop spouting his verbal garbage but noticed he was a little distracted and looking elsewhere. Ichigo followed his line of vision and saw standing on the rooftop, Tsukiko, in all her regal demon glory, looking pretty pissed off, to put it mildly. Her eyes were looking at Grimmjow in disappointment.

"You lied to me." Grimmjow was momentarily stunned and totally lost in thought for a moment upon seeing her true appearance. Her white tail swishing angrily from side to side and her white fluffy ears were twitching every now and again. It was like the best dream he could ever possibly have. A seriously cute, angry cat girl. Shame she wasn't in sort of revealing outfit and playing with a ball of yarn. OK, who said his fantasies weren't strange.

'_This just keeps getting better and better.'_ He smirked unconsciously, eyeing her up and down but that did not help the situation.

"You. Lied. To. Me." She repeated again.

"Woman, wait a minute just listen-"

"You said you loved me, but you were just using me." Ichigo's face was one of surprise at this latest revelation.

"Woman, don't embarrass me, I'm in the middle of a fight here!" Grimmjow warned her, hoping to she would just be quiet because his fierce masculine outer shell was cracking and was never going to live this down now that Ichigo had found out the truth.

"I am sorry that I embarrass you! I am sorry that I even thought of loving you but most of all, I am sorry that I have ever laid eyes on you." And sadly she bounded away.

"Woman! Woman! Come back!" A loud laugh was heard coming from Ichigo. He really couldn't contain himself. The notion that Grimmjow felt anthing apart from the passion for killing was obsurd but LOVE?! Ichigo was doubled over, gasping for breath.

"Shut ya mouth, Shinigami!" He shouted at Ichigo before speeding off. He didn't get far because Ichigo had stopped him in his tracks, pointing his sword at him.

"Ya not going anywhere, scumbag! You stay away from her! I don't care if you…love…HA HA HA HA!!" Ichigo really couldn't control himself, finding it hard to say 'love' and 'Grimmjow' in the same sentence. Grimmjow swung his sword at Ichigo in a really savage fashion and Ichigo slowly stopped laughing when he saw how serious Grimmjow really was.

'_He's bloody serious.'_

Before he knew it, Grimmjow had disappeared, more than likely gone to find Tsukiko. Ichigo sped off. He had had to find her before Grimmjow did.

_**Hiding in some bushes in the park**_

Her heart was utterly broken. She knew that it would all end badly but not because of her eventually departure from this world and leaving him forever, the fact that he used her like a tissue. All she wanted to do now was go home, see her brother and be back to her cotton wool lifestyle as a princess and wishing never, ever, EVER! Fall in love again. She buried her head into her lap and let out a frustrated moan. Suddenly a gust of wind was felt, ruffling her kimono. She slowly looked up and saw Grimmjow's face right in hers. She fell back against the bushes in surprise but regained her composure and just glared at him.

"Woman…Tsukiko, I didn't mean all those things!" She just continued staring at him. He was ready to explain himself but was kicked in the head by Ichigo, who had flew in to try and stop him.

"Come on Tsukiko, we need to get you outta here, Urahara's found a way to get you back home." Her eyes literally peaked up at that news. At last! She could finally return home! She was so elated. Grimmjow, on the other hand, was not elated, he was horrified. His woman was going to leave without him! Not on his watch. He punched Ichigo in the face sending him flying.

"Ya not leaving!"

"Yes I am, _Grimmjow_. You cannot stop me." He grabbed her wrist, pulling her off the ground and close towards him.

"I said ya not going anywhere. I claimed ya as mine now and ya can't deny it." She really couldn't. He did indeed mark his territory, even if she didn't have much say in the matter. Grimmjow was quickly tackled to the ground by Ichigo and the pair began brawling all over the grass, arguing.

"She is going home, where she belongs."

"No, she's staying with me!"

"No she isn't!"

"Yes she is!"

"ISN'T!"

"IS!" The pair were arguing like a couple of school boys. Grimmjow had to get this stupid shinigami brat off him, if he was going to get anywhere with his woman. Kicking Ichigo in the gut, he punched him off him and just to make sure he stayed down, fired a cero at him, sending him crashing out of the park.

"Alright, woman. Time to go." He clicked his fingers and the portal leading to Hueco Mundo opened up. Tsukiko stared at it in amazement but she could feel the evilness just coming out of it. Knowing that she was most likely going to be dragged in that pit of evil, she made a dash for it but Grimmjow had grabbed her round her waist and chucked her over his shoulder and stepped in. Ichigo staggered off the ground and gasped in horror upon seeing Tsukiko being taken away.

"See ya, shinigami and thanks for the leaving present." Grimmjow patted Tsukiko's behind. Ichigo could hear her screaming his name for help as he quickly sped over to the closing portal but it was too late, it had closed. Ichigo ran a hand over his face in anger.

'_Urahara-san is gonna kill me.'_

**This chapter just literally flowed out of my fingers. I couldn't stop writing! And for my eagerness, my poor fingers hurt pulls little sad face**

**Next Chapter: Home Sweet Home! Grimmjow takes his new kitty cat lady friend back to his humble abode, much to her dissatisfaction. Gin has a few surprises and what do Tsukiko, Halibel, Yami and Szayel all have in common? See the next chapter to find out!**


	9. Home Sweet Home

**Thank you for the reviews. Naughty Grimmjow doing a spot of kidnapping so let's see what happens now in Chapter 9.**

**Chapter 9: Home Sweet Home**

_**Back to The Gloominess of Las Noches**_

"Grimmjow…welcome home." Aizen's calm voice resonated throughout his enormous throne room. Numerous arrancars and espadas were dotted around the room, having been summoned unnecessarily to welcome back their comrade. They didn't want to since most of them hated Grimmjow but it was on Aizen-sama's insistence and no one could disobey the almighty Aizen-sama!

Grimmjow gave a little nod of his head, giving some mild respect to his superior.

"So what news do you bring me about Kurosaki Ichigo?"

Oh dear. What was he going to say? There wasn't really much to say. He hadn't expect to come an give a bloody presentation about the orange haired brat with an audience. It wasn't his fault that Ichigo was so dull but he couldn't not say anything and look like a complete idiot. He had to think off the top of his head exactly **what **he could tell Aizen.

"Well… from spending so much time in the World of The Living, I have found some interesting information about the subsitute shinigami, Kurosaki Ichigo…" What a start. Using all the formal lingo to impress Aizen, hoping it would make up for the lack of 'said interesting information'.

"Well?" Aizen urged him on. Grimmjow cleared his throat a little.

"I have found out that…that he has romantic links with a girl called Inoue Orihime."

'_That is good information there. He can__'__t complain about that!__'_ Aizen just sat there, pondering whether that was good information.

"Anything else?"

"Ermmm, well…he hates nuts?" An unsure smirk was on his face but that only fuelled Aizen's frustration.

"Grimmjow, I thought I had told you that this was a mission and not a vacation. Am I wrong?"

"No Aizen-sama." How he was tempted just to say yes.

"And yet you bring me insufficient information after spending a couple of weeks-"

"Correction. It's actually been a couple of months." Grimmjow's rude interruption earned him a subtle Aizen style glare.

"Either way, you had plenty of time and this is all you give me?"

"My deepest apologises." God, how Grimmjow hated grovelling like this, like a dog. And boy, how he hated dogs too. Aizen's eyes lingered for a long while, not on Grimmjow but on the thing slung over his shoulder. He had been curious for sometime who the quiet person was, hoping it was a gift from the World of The Living. Even Ulquiorra didn't give him gifts and he was Aizen's personal ass kisser.

"Grimmjow, I am very pleased that you had found enough time to bring back a gift for me."

"Huh?" Grimmjow said confused. Had Aizen lost even more of his marbles?

"That thing over your shoulder. It is a gift for me, is it not?" Grimmjow remembered that he was indeed holding someone.

"No, no…it's not a gift…"

"It's his girlfriend!!" Came an extremely loud voice from high above. If Grimmjow did blushing, he would be as red as a tomato but since he didn't do such things, he instinctively clenched his fist tightly. Gin, who appeared out from behind Aizen's throne, gave a cheeky wave.

'_Must. Kill. Gin. Must. Kill. Gin!!__'_

"Ah, so this is the girl that you have told me about, Gin?" Said Aizen, his eyes glinting with curiosity.

'_That son of a bitch!! Of all the people to tell, he had to tell fucking AIZEN!? I WILL KILL HIM!!__'_ Streams of images from Grimmjow's personal thought collection of _10 Ways To Kill Gin_ satisfying his bloodthirsty desires.

"Well, introduce me to this girl." Grimmjow growled under his breath but obeyed. He dropped Tsukiko off his shoulder. She had been silent ever since she got there, silently fuming at being kidnapped but also in awe of her new surroundings. Now it seems, she was standing in front of the leader here.

"Hello my dear. I am Aizen Sousuke and this… is Las Noches." Tsukiko just stood there, still in surprise, not fully aware of her situation, a really bad situation.

"And what might your name be?" His voice echoed in the room and into her ears, startling her a bit, but she regained some composure. Kneeling down in respect, she replied,

"Sasaki Tsukiko, pleased to meet you."

"No, please to meet you." Aizen was suddenly in front of her, ushering her to rise from her feet. She slowly looked up in his eyes. They seemed friendly but it was creepy at the same time. Carefully standing up, she nervously stood in front of him. His eyes boring right into hers, almost like he was trying to hypnotise her. Grimmjow was getting slightly worried. This was bad. Aizen was finding her interesting, he couldn't have that! No way was he going to share! He found her first!

"Aizen-sama, can you excuse us, she is a bit tired from the journey, can we go?"

'_Please say yes. Please say yes.__'_ Grimmjow prayed hard and it seemed like they were answered because Aizen nodded his head in approval. He bowed his head slightly and grabbed Tsukiko and carried her under his arm.

Out the corner of his eye, Grimmjow could have swore he saw the arrancar audience suppressing chuckles of laughter.

'_What are they laughing at?! __'_ He thought suspiciously before leaving the room.

_**Standing Outside the door to his room**_

A huge black number six was printed on the door and in smaller letters was his name, Grimmjow Jaegerjaques. At last, back at his beloved room. How he had missed it. The messiness of it, even though there was hardly anything in the room to make it messy and his bed, god he missed that so much. It was so much better than the rubbish he had to sleep on back in the World of The Living. He placed a silent Tsukiko down on her feet and gave her a broad smile whilst his hand was on the door handle. Her eyes were diverted elsewhere, still extremely angry but he didn't care about that right now, he had all the time in the world to charm her back round.

"So, this is my- I mean, OUR room. It's a bit messy but if ya wanna clean it up for me I won't mind and whenever you-WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT SMELL?!" An overpowering scent of flowery perfume wafted out of his room, swirling around them like flower petals but that was just the tip of the iceberg. Grimmjow shakily stepped into his room, he wasn't really sure if he could really claim it as his now since it had a complete makeover. Tsukiko was looking around, secretly impressed at the décor, Grimmjow was just looking around the room, mouth wide open. It was like some sexy boudoir. Walls were painted red and black with random arty pictures for decoration. Grimmjow HATED red! Absolutely hated it and now his room was covered in it. Random flower petals scattered everywhere. His broken glass coffee table was replaced with a black wooden table with intricate designs engraved into it and his beloved squashed up blue couch was now a beautiful cushy red couch complete with scatter cushions, scattered about in an artistic way. He hated it. He hated it all! Alright, maybe not all, since the bed was just great and he was already imagining all the fun he and Tsukiko can have in there. Four poster with black drapes and a nice comfy mattress. But apart from that he hated it all!! Something caught his eye amongst the madness. On top of the table was an envelope but on top of that was a little note attached. Grabbing it, he began to read,

'_Grimm-chan, I have left my artistic mark on ya room. Feel free to send hugs and kisses of appreciation to me!_

_Gin x x x__'_

A deep growl rose in his throat. He had a feeling this was _his_ doing. Who else would do such a thing?

'_P.S__'_

"P.S?" Grimmjow read on.

'_Another lil surprise inside the envelope. Enjoy!__'_ The note was screwed up in a ball and thrown on the floor as he began to rip open the envelope. Tsukiko, who had perched herself on the edge of the bed, was watching in curiosity.

His face was burning with red hot fury as the contents of the envelope were revealed to him. A whole mass of photos, sneakily took photos.

Him eating.

Him sleeping.

Him getting dressed.

Him with his work buddies from The Gaming Hellhole.

Him and Tsukiko when they were on their 'date'?! How Grimmjow did not notice all this was beyond him. Gin must have been hiding in some pretty secretive places to have taken these.

"So, do you like?" Gin's happy face was beaming at him from the doorway. He wasn't the only one there, a few dozen others were lingering around the doorway, grins on their faces. They all knew and had seen what Gin had done with the room. Now, the reason he wasn't around annoying Grimmjow for the last couple of days was because he was busy playing Mr Interior Designer with Grimmjow's dull room. With the help of some arrancar, he had managed to buy and transport some items from the World of The Living, back to Las Noches, and from looking through his mass collection of magazines, he found the perfect design and had set to work to envision his dream. By then the whole of Las Noches had been intrigued at Gin's little act of mad creativity, and now they have all come to see Grimmjow's reaction and he didn't fail to please them. Fierce reiatsu was oozing out of him like a thick blue smog, ready to engulf everything in the room.

"I'm gonna…KILL YOU!! YOU TWISTED SON OF A BITCH!! HOW DARE YA TOUCH MY ROOM!!" He unsheathed his sword and ran at the amused crowd, swinging it blind with rage. The arrancar group scattered and went about their business, all cackling with laughter.

"Awww, are ya alright Tsukiko-chan? Grimm-chan's not being very considerate, is he?" Gin teased. Grimmjow swung round and saw Gin happily comforting a shaken Tsukiko on the edge of the bed. She had never felt such a sensation and definitely didn't want to feel it again as it was like a solid concrete wall, bearing down on her relentlessly.

'_Oh crap.__'_ Guess he did go a little overboard on the whole anger thing.

"Get ya hands off her and get outta my room! I'll deal with you later." Grimmjow shouted at Gin, putting his sword back in its rightful home and dragged him away.

"Oooo, I can't wait." Gin smirked suggestively, only adding more fuel to Grimmjow's raging fire. A loud warning growl and Gin took the hint and slinked away, closing the door behind him. Now time to settle her down.

"Ah, sorry bout that." He placed a hand on her shoulder but that was quickly shrugged off as she shuffled off the bed and walked to the centre of the room, still looking around as a disguise not to make any type of contact with him.

"Come on, don't be like that. We're gonna be here forever ya know, so ya gonna have to talk to me sooner or later."

'_Forever?!'_ She thought, not liking that idea, since forever was a very, very, very long-well it's forever. No way was she going to stay here forever!

"I do not want to be here forever, take me back so I can go home." She said, not turning fully round to face him. Loud laughing came from behind her.

"Ya funny! Really, really funny."

"This is not a joke, I am serious." To make her point, she spun round and gave him a scowl but that only made him laugh some more.

"Ya so cute when ya angry." He teased, getting up off the bed and quickly grabbing her round her waist, leaning his head on her shoulder.

"R-Remove your hands from me. Do not touch me." The grip getting slightly tighter, letting her know that he had no intention of doing just that.

"I've been wondering for a while now," He suddenly starting a new conversation.

"What exactly are ya woman?" That was unexpected. She thought for a moment and decided maybe if she told him what she was then maybe he would think twice about doing such crude things.

"I am a half human-cat demon, but most importantly of all, I am princess of the Starlight Sky Panther demon clan, so now that you know my important status, it would be wise if you remove yourself from me immediately or face the consequences." Using all the princessy authority that she could muster up and hope now he would stop.

Wrong.

"Oh God, I love ya even more now!" He smirked in delight, swaying them both from side to side as he plastered kisses all over the side of her face. This wasn't the reaction she wanted. There was suppose to be a look of surprise and "Oh dear, I'm so sorry, please forgive me, Your Highness" Ok she added the last bit on, finding it amusing for him to be saying that but this was not what she wanted so she had to go to her last resort.

'_I did not think I would have to do this.'_ She sighed to herself. And now, introducing **'Things Grimmjow Doesn't Know About Tsukiko: Number 1'** was just about to be revealed to him and boy did it reveal itself. Grimmjow suddenly found himself upside down against the wall at the other end of the room, a huge crack on it where he had impacted hard.

'_How the hell did I get here?' _How indeed.

"I am sorry but I did say you would face the consequences." She told him calmly. He was still confused at what happened since it occurred so quickly.

"What the hell did ya do?!"

"Pouncing Panther Paw of Power."

"Huh?" He looked at her even more confused.

"It is a special Sasaki family martial art secret, taught to every generation. Being royalty puts us in danger and that move stops people from hurting us…permanently, but I must admit you are very tough to stand up to that without serious damage." She peered down at him quite impressed. So, '**Things Grimmjow Doesn't Know About Tsukiko Number 1': Has a killer secret martial art move which could have punched a second hole through him.**

How humiliating, being floored by a girl, a princess at that. So glad no one saw that. He must redeem his pride, control and his masculinity. Scrambling out his messy predicament, he tackled her to the ground, straddling her waist and pinning her arms down. She had no chance of fighting him in such a constricting kimono so she just settle for wriggling about a bit.

"So ya think ya can try and get the best of me?"

"Well yes, you do not seem all that strong." There was dead silence, tumbleweed rolling by kind of silence. She just called him weak. Weak!

"How dare you! I am strong, stronger than you! I'm the fucking 6th espada!" He roared at her.

"Espanda?"

"No! ESPADA!"

"What is that?"

"The strongest form of hollow in this stupid place." So he was a hollow. Her suspicions were confirmed since he had the familiar smell of one, remembering her hollow encountered many, many years ago.

"But, if you are as strong as you say you are, why are you only Number 6 and not Number 1?" She said quite innocently, not intending for it to be an insult but Grimmjow sure did take it as one but what could he say? Her observation was correct. If he was so strong, _why_ was he not top espada?

"Because it fools people. If they think I'm the strongest then they would expect that but from Number 6 they don't really expect much and when they underestimate me, BAM! I would shock them with my overwhelming power!" That was a very lame excuse but she seemed convinced.

"Now, it's time for a little payback." He smirked evilly down at her shocked face. What was he going to do? What was he going to do?! She watched as one of his hands slowly raised up off of her wrist and began descending down, down, down…

"Grimmjow." Grimmjow paused his action and snapped his head to the direction of the new voice and groaned.

"Get the hell out my room, Bitch-Face, I'm busy. And ain't ya heard of knocking?!" Ulquiorra stood in the doorway, staring at his fellow espada and just ignored his insult.

"Aizen-sama wishes to see you, so get up."

" '_Aizen-sama wishes to see you'_ " Grimmjow mimicked back childishly, disgusted at Ulquiorra's fondness for being Aizen's pet. Ulquiorra continued to stare. Grimmjow sighed and removed himself from Tsukiko. He knew Ulquiorra could stand there all day and watch him and he certainly didn't want that.

"Stay in here, I won't be long and we will continue where we left off." He winked at her before shoving Ulquiorra out the way, closing the door and locking it. Tsukiko just stared at the doorway for a couple of moments as if waiting for something. Finally she moved and went towards the door.

"Stay in the room. He cannot tell me what to do." She placed her hand near the handle of the door and focused. A soft glow of blue came from her hand before it diminished again. Carefully pulling down the handle, the door opened. This is **'Things Grimmjow Doesn't Know About Tsukiko' Number 2: Has a knack for all things mystical.** This clever little princess has kept her mystical powers under wraps until now. Her spells are quite limited since The Sasaki Book of Spells was not currently with her so only the basics can be performed. The door was carefully opened, hoping not to alert anyone and she peered around, eyes shifted left and right. No one was there. Excellent. A little smile crept onto her face as she slipped through the gap and closed the door behind her.

"Hmmm, I wonder if there is any food around here?" She said before wandering down the corridor.

_**Shiftily pacing down the corridor**_

Papers in hand by his side, his amber eyes cautiously looking around, not wanting to be seen. Szayel Aporro Granz, 8th espada and all time nutcase scientist with candyfloss stuck on his head, was heading down the corridor, very strange since he rarely ventured out of his science lab, but where he had to go was of importance, such importance that he had to check whether people were watching him or following him. Light footsteps were advancing towards him at a leisurely pace and some mumbling.

'_Oh no, someone's coming, got to-wait a moment, that is not a hollow reiatsu, it's something else.'_

And that something else was Tsukiko, walking around like she was in a museum, not that there was much to look at, just a corridor with white walls and lights. Szayel smiled to himself and continued to walk towards her. She was just busy in her own little world until she bumped right into him.

"Oh dear, I am very sorry." She said, but desperately hoping it wasn't Grimmjow. To her relief it wasn't, just a guy with pink hair and glasses, looking at her in a strange way.

"Don't worry about it. So you're Grimmjow's new pet."

"Excuse me, but I am not a pet and I am most certainly not Grimmjow's." She huffed at being insulted like that. Szayel raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, it seems you do not like him very much."

"Why would I? He tricks me, takes me away from the Human World and brings me to this strange place and expects me to live here forever. This is false imprisonment."

'_Very intriguing.'_ He was only half listening to what she was saying, too busy scrutinizing her appearance. Already, plans of examinations, all in the name of science were popping into his mind but that had to wait because also another idea sprung to him.

"So where are you going? Strange that Grimmjow is not with you."

"Grimmjow had to go and I was hungry so I went to find some food, do you know where the kitchen is?"

"Yes, yes, of course. I will be happy to show you." A devious grin on his face.

"Oh thank you, you are very kind. May I ask what your name is?"

"Szayel. Szayel Aporro Granz." He said, escorting her back down the corridor, grin still in place.

_**Twenty Long Minutes later**_

It took a while to get there since Las Noches was so freakin' huge! Tsukiko was wondering whether they were ever going to get there at all or if it was just a huge circle of corridors since she swore she went pass the same spot a couple of times but at last they were there. Or so she thought. Szayel knocked on the door in a pattern of clever knocks and slaps, like he was playing the drums.

'_I wonder why he is doing that? It is only the kitchen after all. Unless it is a secret kitchen.'_ She thought. The door creaked open and a from the darkness a hand came out ushering them inside. Szayel allowed her to go in first, though she was very apprehensive. Each step at a time, inching her way inside, Szayel following behind her, then the door slammed shut, leaving them in total darkness. Silence, all was still for a brief moment before the lights struck, blinding her poor eyes.

"What is the meaning of this, Szayel? Why have you brought Grimmjow's pet with you?" a soft but stern female voice said. Tsukiko looked over to the speaker and she was quite intimidating. Spiky blonde hair, most of her face covered by her top collar but her eyes peeping over it, with a subtle glare.

"Halibel, I brought her here because she can be of some use."

"Use? What use would that be?" Came a low voice. Tsukiko turned her gaze from the scary blonde lady to a enormous scary man. Enormous height wise and muscle wise. A bald man with exception from the long black ponytail at the back, a white hollow mask jaw and he was wearing an white open jacket and trousers. She noticed that they all had a similar dress code. What kind of organization was this? But more importantly, where was the kitchen?!

"Well for starters, Yami, she dislikes Grimmjow."

"Everybody hates that cocky bastard, so what? Do we invite everyone here just because of that?" Sneered Yami, slouching in his seat.

"No but she does have useful information about 'that place'." This momentarily peaked the other two's interests.

"Sit down, this sounds interesting." Said Halibel, taking a seat opposite Yami. Szayel pulled up a chair and joined them, Tsukiko followed suit, very, very confused at what was going on.

"Before we beginning, Grimmjow's pet, we want you to promise not to speak of what is about to be discussed outside these walls because if you do…" Said Halibel

"I'll cut off that pretty lil tail of yours, got it?!" Threatened Yami. Tsukiko gulped in horror at the thought of being tail less.

"Y-Y-Yes, I promise and I must add, I am not Grimmjow's pet. My name is Tsukiko."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Can we get on with this?!" Yami was getting impatient.

"Alright, we would all now like to welcome you to this secret and exclusive group, The Espada World of The Living Fan Club." Said Halibel

"We agreed that it was the All Things Human Fan Club." Chipped in Szayel

"We agreed nothing. It's Espada World of The Living Fan Club."

"That's too long, besides All Things Human Fan Club sounds so much better."

"Who bloody cares! Can we get started?!" Yami shouted at them. Tsukiko was still wondering whether she was going to eat today.

"Anyway, what is on the agenda today, Speaker?" Halibel said, pouring everyone a cup of tea. Tsukiko was grateful. At last something to drink. Szayel cleared his throat and shuffled the papers in his hands.

"There a few things on the agenda today. The debate from the last meeting, whether or not aliens actually exist. Also the topic of fashion will be discussed, much to a very forceful note that Halibel had sent me." Looking over at Halibel, who just remained expressionless but they really couldn't tell since most of her face was covered.

"And to conclude the meeting, the topic of human recreation but before we beginning properly I would like to explain why I have brought Tsukiko here." He looked over at her. She was taking a sip from her tea but started looking at it very strangely.

"She was taken from the World of The Living, so I assume that she would know first hand what humans are like to live amongst and hopefully share her experiences with us."

"Huh?" She said, mid-sip.

"Please share with us your knowledge, share with us your experiences of those truly fascinating creatures." Szayel was almost on the verge of pleading, pleading like a man obsessed. Tsukiko gave a little moments thought, before smiling at them.

"Yes, I would gladly tell you everything I know." The group clapped jubilantly and settled down, ready to listen with keen interest to what the girl was about to say.

_**Two Hours Later**_

A gasp of surprise came from the group.

"Unbelievable!" Halibel gasped.

"Truly shocking!" Said Szayel

"Your lying!" Said an equally surprised Yami.

"It is true." Tsukiko said, nodding her head at them.

"So what you are saying is that humans go in groups, mainly their friends and they go to a place called an 'Anime Convention', where they dress up in strange clothes to emulate their favourite anime character, is that what you are saying?" Confirmed Halibel.

"Yes, I went there and it was an interesting experience. My friend had taken me and we were all dressed up."

"Who did you dress up as?" Szayel asked eagerly, sitting on the edge of his seat in anticipation.

"I was dressed up as a character called 'Sailor Saturn' from a programme called 'Sailor Moon'."

"Sailor Moon? That sounds interesting." said Halibel

"It is very interesting. If only there were televisions and DVD players here then I would have been able to show you."

"DVD players? What are those?" Asked Yami

"It is a device which plays films and other moving pictures from a round disc and shows it on the television." The group was in awe. This was truly bizarre. These three espada have a secret fascination for items and all things from the World of The Living. How they managed to form the group is shrouded in mystery but the trio have been doing this for quite a while now and now that they have a new member who had experienced first hand what it was like, they were more excited than ever.

They had learnt so much in their two hour meeting. The fierce debate about whether aliens existed had been resolved after Tsukiko informed them that some humans believe in the existence of aliens but have yet to have any solid evidence. Fashion was also discussed. Halibel was taking down notes as Tsukiko told her about the latest fashions that were rife in the Human World and gave Szayel and Yami some pointers about what the male population were wearing these days and last but not least, human recreation, a topic Yami was secretly interested in since there was nothing to do here at Las Noches. Now he was considering taking up baseball, if he had all the equipment.

"May I suggest that we can bring some things back from the Human World, it would be easier for me to explain some of the things, so if I just ask Grimmjow-"

"No! Do not get him involved. The fan club must remain a secret." Halibel said sternly to the girl.

"But-"

"No…actually… we could ask Gin since he loves it there so much, then maybe we could let him join the group. He could be our supplier." Halibel's idea was a very good one to which the rest of the group agreed.

"Excellent. I will approach Gin with the matter. I will give feedback at the next meeting. Remember same time in two weeks. Meeting over." Everyone got up off their seats and one by one they left, leaving Halibel and Tsukiko alone, well since this was Halibel's room, she just began clearing up the tea cups.

"Ermmm, Halibel?"

"Yes?" She replied, placing the cups to one side.

"I was just wondering…do you happen to know where I can get some of those clothes?" She said, pointing over to Halibel's arrancar outfit. For a while, she had been looking over at the clothes in awe. They all looked so comfortable and her own clothes were starting to feel quite uncomfortable. All she wanted was some freedom in the form of loose clothing.

"You can borrow some of mine." Halibel walked towards her wardrobe, opened it up and began routing through it, trying to find some suitable clothes.

"Oh, if it is not too much trouble."

"It's not." She came out from the vast wardrobe with a huge bundle of clothes.

"Try those on. Got to make sure they fit." Tsukiko nodded her head and looked at the mass of clothes. It was going to take a long while to try them all on and time she did not have when she just remembered,

"Grimmjow! Oh no! I have to get back to the room quickly before he notices that I went missing." Goodness knows what he would do to her if she just came strolling back into his room after he knew she went missing.

"Leave Grimmjow to me." Halibel said, leaving Tsukiko wondering what exactly did she mean by that.

_**Standing outside the door to Grimmjow's new boudoir**_

"He is going to be very angry with me." Tsukiko was very worried as she and Halibel stood outside Grimmjow's door. Her hands were clasped tightly in front of her, damp with nervous sweat whilst holding onto her kimono. She was now all decked out in a new arrancar style outfit. Halibel thought it would be best not to wear some of her things because:

A) They were quite revealing and didn't suit Tsukiko's personality (More of a conservative person she was)

B) Revealing clothes + Sex Mad Grimmjow Bad news for Tsukiko and more 'special hugs'

So they settled for the typical hakama over her legs, a top which covered her arms and hands and a high neck but there were holes cut which partially exposed her shoulders, with the typical black trim around the holes and on her finger tips.

"Maybe, yes but as I said leave him to me." Halibel knocked on the door and now sooner had she knocked it, the door was flung open and an irate Grimmjow emerged, drying his wet hair with a towel. He had been in the shower and after hearing the knock and hoping it was Tsukiko, he quickly dashed some clothes on and his scowl and confronted the two women.

"Woman! Where the fuck have ya been?! I told ya to stay in the room! And how the hell did ya get out when I locked the door?!" He was very irate since the meeting with Aizen was longer than he ever expected.

"I came to see her." Answered Halibel.

"Why would ya do that for?!"

"What I do is none of your business."

"Well it is when it involves my woman! But it looks like ya dressed her up like some doll." He said unimpressed but his eyes were happily roaming over Tsukiko's body.

"She said she was uncomfortable in her clothes so I invited her to my room to try on some clothes and we ended up having a nice long chat."

"You don't do nice long chats!"

"Not with you, no I don't." Her calm demeanour was always irritating to him as he sneered at her.

"Whatever. Ya brought her back, now get lost."

"Polite as always. Goodbye for now, Tsukiko."

"Bye Halibel." She bowed to the older woman and Halibel slinked away, leaving Tsukiko alone with Grimmjow. How she had been dreading this moment, wondering what he was going to say or do.

"Ya looking very nice." He smirked at her.

"T-Thank you." She mumbled, looking away in embarrassment. She was suddenly whisked up off her feet and squeezed close to him.

"You are all wet." She commented in distain, feeling his wet chest making wet marks on her clothes.

"Well ya can dry me off then, can't ya?" He said suggestively as he carried her back into his room, closing the door behind him. A loud crashing sound and an annoyed moan was heard.

"Woman! Enough with the stupid Panther Paw already!!"

"You asked for it, you silly man!"

"Ya gonna pay for that!"

More crashing about in the room as the pair fought behind closed doors. The beginning (or end) of a beautiful but crazy relationship.

**Now that was unexpected. Comments please, good readers.**

**Next Chapter: Poor Tsukiko's come down with a mysterious illness, Grimmjow thinks he has the answer and sets to work to become the most incompetent, fraudulent, arrancar doctor ever!**


	10. Dr Jaegerjaques, at your service

**I'm back! I had no internet for ages! But I'm back now to give ya the next chapter! Thank ya for the reviews, very funny and nice to read, so keep them coming!**

**Chapter 10: Dr Jaegerjaques, at your service.**

_**About Morning in Grimmjow**__**'**__**s sexy boudoir**_

It was a glorious morning, the best Grimmjow ever had in his entire life and knew it would be one of many, many more to come. The birds would be singing _(If there were any birds)_, the flowers would be blooming _(If there was any instead of dead trees)_, everything would be a techni-coloured dream of beautiful love _(Instead of a gloomy, depressing cess pit of hate)_.

'_Hmmm, so nice and warm for once.__'_ He smirked in his sleep, draping his arm over to one side.

'_What should I do today? I could stay here all day with my cute, princess-__'_

**ATCHOO!**

'_Test the springs on this bed with a bit of-__'_

**ATCHOO!**

'_*Sigh*, I love it when she-__'_

**ATCHOO!!**

'_when I-__'_

**ATCHOO!!**

'_What the hell is that noise?!__'_ His eyes sleepily opened and what he saw was horrifying, so horrifying that he jumped up in high alert with a shocked look on his face. His dirty fantasies fizzled out after seeing such a sight. Lying next to him wasn't his usual beautiful kitty cat but a zombie. Eyes looked murky, nose was red and sniffling, hollow chesty breathing and a deathly pale face. Not what he expected to wake up to in the morning.

"Ohhhh…I do not feel so good." She groaned, pulling up the bed covers up to her neck.

Oh no.

Something was wrong with his woman! Grimmjow started to slightly panic.

"No! Don't do this to me woman!! Don't ya be ill on me now!" He placed a hand on her forehead to check her temperature to see how cold she was, but she was not cold, she was hot. Hot was an understatement. It was like she was basking in the hottest place on earth whilst eating hundreds of the hottest chilli known to man.

"No, No, NO! Dammit, woman, why did you have to do this to me?!"

Why was he panicking? He's an espada, he fears NOTHING! But he had good reason to fear this. Thinking back to his oh-so-fun times in the Gaming Hellhole when Yoshi came to work one day with this disgusting disease thing, called…called…he didn't care what it was called, what matter was the effects. Yoshi came in, looking exactly the same as Tsukiko _(Not literally looking like her, just the symptoms. That would be just weird.)_ blowing his nose, wrapped up tight in a bundle of clothing. What was the most annoying things was the coughing and the sneezing and the fact he once sneezed right into Grimmjow's face without so much as an apology afterwards. Yoshi ended up being locked up in the store cupboard for the rest of the day (_"__He__'__s contaminating me!!__"_ _Whined Grimmjow_) But that was Yoshi. He would never hesitate to inflict some torture on that Grass-Head but he would never do that to Tsukiko. Not his darling, little sugar muffin. This was his chance now to get back into her good books, this situation was just perfect to show her why she loved him in the first place.

"Have no fear, Grimmjow is here. Let me take care of you, alright?" He said, stroking her hair. She wearily looked up, unsure if it was the right thing to let him take of her but she had no choice.

"OK…**ATCHOO!!**…sorry" Grimmjow sighed and wiped his face with his hand.

'_This should be easy.__'_ He thought with such sarcasm.

_**An hour of brainstorming later**_

**Tap, Tap, Tap, Tap.**

Yes. Grimmjow was _**trying **_to brainstorm some ideas in a velvet notepad he found in his fancy chest of drawers _(Shudders in disgust)_. He had been thinking for a whole hour, which was astonishing in itself, but why was he doing this brainstorming? Because he had no idea what he was suppose to do. It really wasn't as easy as he thought. He's never looked after someone before, preferring just to kill them instead _(So much easier)_. It was so hard. He looked down at the pad of paper and tapped his pen on it. Nothing. Absolutely no ideas whatsoever. After all that time in the World of The Living, he had not picked up any such procedures for dealing with illnesses. He better think of something soon because it looked like she was getting worse. She had gone back to sleep, for now. Every now and then, she would wake back up and do a bit of coughing and spluttering before trying to go back to sleep. Time was ticking away whilst his pen tapped away. The prospect of sharing a bed with a sick person was not a nice thought even if it was Tsukiko.

'_What am I going to do?__'_ Feet tapped on the red fluffy rug impatiently. An idea suddenly popped into his head but upon realising the practically foolish nature of it, he pushed it to the back of his mind…

Then it crept back up on him again like a creepy stalker.

'_Never. I won__'__t do it.__'_ Again the thought was pushed straight back down but he made sure to put it in his most deep darkest spot…

And back it came, relentlessly torturing him, saying its evil suggestion over and over.

'_ALRIGHT!! I__'__ll fucking do it!!__'_ He gripped hold of his notepad and pen and stormed out the room.

_**Outside his worst nightmare**__**'**__**s door**_

Every muscle in his body was trying to drag him away but he knew in his mind that this was for Tsukiko. This was to make her better, make her realise he was the best thing since sliced bread and she would fall back into his arms once more. Now, here he was, outside this door, hand suspended in readiness to knock. The idea which had been niggling away at him, was to just simply ask someone for some advice. Not help. Grimmjow never asks for help. He just needed a few pointers. Since all these hollows around here don't get ill he couldn't ask them, which didn't leave him with many people left to ask. So, next up on the Grimmjow Idea Tree were the three rogue shinigami captains.

**Number 1:** Aizen Sousuke (The Big Cheese)

**Should he ask him?:** Maybe…but then he would stick his nose into his business and try and steal away his woman, so that was a no.

**Number 2:** Tousen Kaname (Mr Justice Underpants)

**Should he ask him?:** He'd rather stick needles in his eyes, dress up like a fairy and prance around in front of the orange haired shinigami for all eternity than ask that stupid bastard!

So that only left…

"Grimm-chan!! Ya've come all the way to see me! Come give me a little hug!" Grimmjow's worst nightmare in the form of Ichimaru Gin was in the doorway. He didn't even knock the door and he had already opened the door, as if he was waiting for him and was smirking like a creep.

"Ya can shove the hug where the sun don't shine. I'm not here for bloody chit chat-"

"Oh come now, ya came all this way and not expect a little friendly chat, come on in." Before he knew it, Grimmjow was grabbed by the arm and pulled into Gin's room. Grimmjow peered around the room. Surprisingly it was pretty plain decorative wise but his room was cluttered with various items he brought back from the World of The Living, including those stupid magazines. It was surprising that he couldn't do up his own room with his horrid deco and yet he ruined Grimmjow's room unnecessarily.

The pair sat down on two white chairs and stared at one another; Grimmjow with his usual fierce frown and Gin with his ever present smirk.

"So, have ya finally come to thank me for all the hard work I put into ya room?"

"No."

"So ya just came to see me? Ahhh, ya know that ya're always welcome here."

"No, ya idiot! I came…I came for some advice…" Gin's ears perked up at hearing this and shuffled his chair closer to Grimmjow.

"Oh dear, oh dear. Difficulties in the bedroom already? Not satisfying her properly after all I did to make it look so romantic? Well ya know, if ya are having trouble then in one of my magazines there is this great article-"

"WHAT?! Fuck you! My sex life is just fine thank you!" Grimmjow shouted in outrage.

"Hmmm, well if it _does _become a issue then-"

"It will never be a issue and even if it was I wouldn't talk to you about it!" Gosh, if he knew his sex life was going to be called into question then he wouldn't have went there- but then with Gin, anything could be called in question.

"Alright, so what _have _ya come for?"

"It's the woman. She's ill and… I dunno what to do." He didn't want to sound like a helpless, lost little boy but he did. Gin jumped out of his seat and latched on to him.

"Awww, that is just the cutest thing I have ever heard. Ya looking after her when she's ill. That's just so adorable, so romantic, so coupley. I didn't know ya had it in ya." He cooed in the espada's ear. Rumbling annoyance was rising through his body as he pushed Gin off him and glared.

"Now, now, I know it took all ya had to be that honest and since I just adore ya so much, I'll help ya out." He took the notebook and pen from Grimmjow's hands and began scribbling away. Grimmjow was so hoping his trip wouldn't be in vain.

_**Back to his den**_

Finally back at his room and now fully equipped with useful advice from Gin and a brightly coloured goodie baf. It was a whole hour he was in Gin's room. A whole hour. And only ten minutes of that were actually of Gin writing down his ideas in the notebook, the rest of the time…well let's just say Grimmjow didn't have a good time. He managed to escape from the room after it got a bit too weird in there. Now for a little sneaky peek at what Gin had writing in his trusty notebook;

**List of Thing****'****s Grimm-chan needs to do to help his cutey pie (**_**That was scribbled violently out by Grimmjow)**_

**1: Plenty of water and hot food (I suggest a nice soup, so look in the top cupboard in the kitchen for the ingredients)**

**2: Make sure to keep check of her temperature (With a thermometer, I do hope you know what that is. Only kidding.)**

**3: Keep her comfortable and get her whatever she needs (Not what YOU need, what SHE needs. I know ya can be quite selfish)**

**4: A nice hot bath (Don****'****t be getting any ideas now *wink wink*)**

**5: Plenty of bed rest (Again, not for YOU, for HER)**

**6: Give her some medicine (Not too much though.)**

**If ya follow all this, she****'****ll be better in no time.**

**Gin x x x x x**

His first stop was the kitchen since he realised that she had nothing to eat all day yesterday but also it was the first thing on his list. It was a fully equipped kitchen. Really quite unnecessary since he had never seen Aizen or the others eating anything, just drinking gallons and gallons of tea. He had found Gin's secret stash of packet miso soup stashed behind the many packets of tea. It looked easier enough on the packet to make but he found it harder than he thought since he couldn't cook for toffee. He managed to set it all up in the pot and was trying to keep an eye on it, not wanting to ruin it but distractions just kept coming.

**Distraction No.1: Halibel**

She had come for; surprise, surprise, a cup of tea and found Grimmjow staring really hard at the pot, watching the contents like a hawk in case it suddenly jumped out at him. She asked him what he was doing but he told her to go away and not to ruin his hard work. She teased him for a while, he swatted his hand at her, which earned him a slap across his head. She just walked off, muttering about torturing him one day whilst he muttered about burying her alive in the Hueco Mundo sand.

**Distraction No.2: The Big Cheese (Aizen-sama)**

Aizen was wandering around, since there was nothing evil for him to do that day and had smelt something in the kitchen so he went and investigated and saw Grimmjow by the pot, still staring at it with great dedication. It seemed that Grimmjow hadn't noticed him so he flared up his reiatsu a bit, _(He really needed to be acknowledged at all times. Such insecurities)_ which surprised Grimmjow half to death and almost knocked the pot over. Curious, Aizen looked at what Grimmjow was cooking and asked why he was doing it. He said it was for Tsukiko because she was ill. He regretted saying that because Aizen had a creepy glint in his eye and asked if he could be of any help. Grimmjow hurriedly said it was alright and with that Aizen slinked away, leaving Grimmjow to wipe the nervous sweat from his brow.

**Distraction No.3: Bitch-face (Ulquiorra)**

He came in like the annoyance that he was because he smelt something odd in there and found Grimmjow _still_ staring at the pot. Ulquiorra stared at Grimmjow and asked what he was doing. Grimmjow politely told him to "Fuck off! It's none of ya business!". Argument ensured for quite a while and this meant Grimmjow had to abandon his post from the stove to get up in Ulquiorra's face and tell him what he really thought of him but in doing so, he forgot about the soup and it started to bubble over. In a panic he dashed over to try and save what was left of it. Ulquiorra snorted in mild satisfaction which earned him a bowl being thrown at him. Man he really did hate him so much.

He juggled with the tray with one hand and pushed open the door with other.

"Hey, how ya feelin'?" He said with said with a touch of cheeriness as he walked over to the bed.

"R-Really cold." She managed to say with such a hoarse voice it sounded like she was going to lose her voice anytime soon.

"Well this should warm ya up, some miso soup. Smell that, it took me ages to make this for ya." Waving the bowl under her nose.

"I cannot really smell anything, my nose is stuffed up." She said sadly. It wasn't nice to see her so sad because of that stupid illness being inflicted on her.

"Let's hope ya taste is alright. Sit up." She gave a little yawn and tried to move but she couldn't. It was like she was stuck to the mattress. Grimmjow sighed, assessing the situation before placing the bowl down and slipped his hands underneath her and pulled her up into a sitting position. Tsukiko was very uncomfortable about that, she still was angry at being kidnapped, so she wasn't going to be too friendly but him touching her was overstepping the mark, but now you're wondering if she didn't want be touched, why on earth would she share a bed with him. The answer- she was **forced** to. She was all willing to sleep on the couch but Grimmjow said it was no place for princesses to sleep and the other excuse was that he needed something to cuddle up to at night, with an sly grin on his face. Even under protest, he still hauled her into bed with him and was cuddled all night like a teddy bear.

Now sitting up and ready to eat, Grimmjow began stirring up the soup with the spoon. From the little demonstration that she can't sit up, it was less likely for her to hold a spoon so he had the task of doing it for her.

"Open up." He said, taking a spoonful and began inching it further and further to her open mouth. He wasn't really the softly, softly kind of person and being careful was something alien to him so he accidentally shoved it a bit too far into her mouth, which was bad because

**a) He almost chocked her to death and**

**b) It was piping hot!!**

Her eyes went wide in pain and began flailing about as she spat it back out again.

"What the hell's wrong with ya?!" He berated as she did indeed spit that food on his clothes but that was the least of his problems since her flailing ended up knocking the bowl out his hands and right onto his trousers. Never in the history of man had a long stream of obscenities came streaming angrily out of one man's mouth in one go before. He leaped up from the bed and began comically running around the room, whilst she was still recovering from the fact the lining of her throat narrowly avoided being burnt away.

"FUCKING HELL!!!" He stopped his running and began fanning his hakama as the searing pain was starting to die down.

"What the hell did ya do that for?!" He shouted at her whilst going to his wardrobe to get a fresh hakama. She said something in reply but it was all muffled up. He closed up the wardrobe and prowled back over to the bed. So much for point Number 1, maybe he should try Number 2 on the list; **check temperature**. Lucky for him Gin ever so kindly gave him a thermometer. He pulled it out of the bag of goodies and shook it a bit as Gin instructed and inched it closer to her but she shifted slightly away, worried that might be the next thing lodged down her throat.

"I'm not gonna make the same mistake twice ya know." He reassured her, though she wasn't entirely convinced. Nevertheless she opened up her mouth and he popped in the thermometer.

"OK, he said to wait for a couple of minutes and then check it." He said to himself and that's what they did, waited in silence for a couple of moments. When it was ready he pulled it out her mouth and took a look. His eyes flickered with surprise, looked away, then looked back just to see if he wasn't going crazy. It was way, waaay too high, even he knew that. It was verging on so-hot-that-she-shouldn't-technically-be-alive.

"Bloody hell…" He murmured, still surprised that such a temperature could be raised and yet she was wrapped up tight in layers.

"Take that off ya." She didn't know what he was taking about for a moment but then realised it was the duvet wrapped around her.

"I am cold."

"Cold, my ass. Now take it off." He grabbed hold of it and began to pull it but she wasn't going to let go without a little fight, no matter how weak she was feeling.

"Let go!"

"No…"

"Let go!"

"No…!"

"Dammit woman, let go already!" With his strength, he pulled it but pulled it a bit too much as she went tumbling out the bed, landing in a heap on the floor by his feet.

"Oh damn, sorry bout that." He bent down and scooped her off the floor and put her back in her original place.

"I want the blanket please." She muttered, reaching her hand out to him.

"Fine, ya can have the stupid blanket but if ya start getting all hot, don't blame me." The blanket was lifted up high before gently fluttering down over her. He leaned over and began fixing the sides before looking straight at her and smirking. Her face became even more flushed than it already was and the covers were whipped straight over head, hiding completely from him, save for the tip of her tail hanging off the side of the bed, swaying slowly from side to side. He couldn't tell but it looked for a moment like she was deeply embarrassed, or maybe it was just the heat showing through on her face but now it was time to start with point **Number 3: Keep her comfortable**, or as he puts it, to be a lowly servant. Since she was a princess then she should be used to servants, people waiting on her hand on foot. She probably treats them like dirt! Images of him, scuttling around in a frilly apron while she shouted orders at him like a strict army general…but she didn't seem the type.

"Hey, was there anything ya wanted?" A ruffle underneath the sheets as she turned over to him but said nothing.

"Oi, I'm talking to you!" He pulled back the covers and saw her half asleep.

'_Perhaps not the best of times to badger her.__'_ He thought as he watched her drifting in and out of sleep, not quite making her mind up whether to do one or the other. He admits that she does look all cute, in a vulnerable way. His hand landed gently on top of her head, making her eyes open up.

"Ya sure there's nothing ya need." He said again gently, his hand rubbing right behind her ears and this is another one of **'****Things Grimmjow doesn****'****t know about Tsukiko Number 3: She****'****s very, very, VERY sensitive behind her little fluffy ears**.**'**So much so this happens… she suddenly went all limp looking, with an idiotic smirk on her face, and was she purring?!

"Woman." He called out to her, after noticing her jelly like state.

"Woman." Very worrying now. He gently shook her by the shoulders, to which she finally responded.

"Are you alright?!" The illness must have done a bit of damage to her brain for a moment there.

"Y-You scratched my ears did you not?"

"Err, yeah, so?…what? You went like that because I scratched your EARS!?" He said in disbelief at such a mere action could do that to her. She slowly nodded her head. He mentally smirked at all the times he will be doing that to her, springing it on her in surprise. That was just too much of an opportunity for him to pass up.

"So anyway, is there anything you wanted?" He asked yet again.

"…no, I am fine."

"Cut the crap, there must be something."

She thought for a bit but only one thing stuck in her mind.

"Could you…scratch my ears again please." How embarrassing. Yes, she didn't want him anywhere near her but boy did he know how to scratch some ears. Grimmjow, being the sly guy that he was, accepted immediately and worked his magic. Right behind her ears, it was a very strange feeling but she really enjoyed it from her very limp form and the little ditzy smile on her face…yep she enjoyed it.

_**Half an hour of ear scratching later**_

Raspy, light breathing from underneath the covers as Grimmjow tucked her up. She fallen into a light sleep, thank goodness, because he was starting to lose all feeling in his hand. It was time to stretch his legs. Getting up off his chair he headed out of the room, closing the door quietly behind him. Looking after someone was very time consuming and now he needed to do some fun things for himself, like randomly destroy something…or even pay that shinigami brat a visit and tease him. Speaking of which, what _was_ Ichigo doing?

_**In Urahara**__**'**__**s random underground training room**_

"Jeez almighty!! I said I'm sorry alright?! Now will ya stop this!! It's bloody embarrassing!! OUCH!!" Dressed up in a princess type dress over his shinigami clothes, Ichigo was being paraded round the training area like he was a criminal with a nice little note attached to him saying;

'_**I**__**'**__**m a silly little shinigami who can**__**'**__**t look after princesses**__**'**_whilst Jinta and Ururu kicked him relentless, much to Urahara's satisfaction.

"Hmmm…I guess I should stop now, it has been a day now so, yeah, you are now free!" Ichigo sighed in relief and threw off his stupid dress.

"So how the heck are we going to get her back?"

"Well that's easy of course, you go to Hueco Mundo and bring her back."

"Well of course, stupid." Ichigo muttered under his breath before being prodded right in the side by Urahara's cane.

"But ya not going in alone since that is enemy territory, so Ishida-san and Sado-san will come along too."

"Fine, but when am I going?!" He had no time to waste, goodness knows what the blue haired freak and all his crummy friends have done to her.

"Calm down, calm down. It might be a couple of days or so since I have to get the portal ready-"

"A COUPLE OF DAYS?! OUCH!!" Again the cane connected with Ichigo's side.

"Yes a couple of days, which gives you some time for you to do a bit of training cuz you are a bit out of shape. Call Ishida-san and Sado-san to come on over and join the party." Urahara waved his fan in front of his face.

"Fine."

"Boss!! The portal!!" Jinta's voice shouted over to the two men. The pair of them dashed over to where Jinta and Ururu were and just stared in amazement. As Ichigo had told Tsukiko before, Urahara had found a way to get her home by means of a makeshift portal, but now it seems there was something wrong with it.

"What's going on?" Ichigo asked but no one answered. Suddenly something shot out of the portal, or rather rolled out. The group quickly moved out the way and were surprised to see it was a long, furry black carpet. Everyone looked in confusion but then voices were heard, well one annoyed voice seemingly telling someone off.

"Why did you do that for? That was totally unnecessary to bring the stupid carpet…I do not care if it is tradition, it is stupid!…So what? It is not as if I am going to catch anything by stepping on foreign ground…whatever, remind me when we get back to get rid of it." Dashing out the portal were four strange looking men, they seemed to look like soldiers or guards of some description. They knelt down, two on either side of the carpet before some more people came out. A important looking man, holding what looked to be some paper work and pushing his glass up his nose, came out before standing on one side of the carpet and then last but no means least came a very, I mean _very,_ tall looking man. Taller than Chad, almost verging on Kenpachi tall. But he also looked very important, so important in fact that he had some sort of metal head dress perched on his head and regal clothing but he had a bored expression on his face. The portal quickly closed back up and then there was silence. Urahara had a giant smile on his face, Jinta and Ururu just stared at the man and Ichigo looked worried, very worried, after noticing a very familiar characteristic that all the men had.

"So this is the Mortal World? Very different from the last time I came." Said the man, looking around curiously.

"Greetings Your Majesty. I am Urahara Kisuke." Urahara stepped forward, took off his hat and gave a bow. The man finally noticed that there was actually people there, looked at Urahara and gave him a smirk.

"So you are Uncle Urahara? Tsukiko had told me so much about you."

"Good things I hope?" Smirked Urahara.

"Of course."

"Who is that?" Ichigo whispered to himself but his words did not go unnoticed.

"Ah, forgive my rudeness. I am Sasaki Kenji, Emperor of the Starlight Sky Panther Demon Clan, I have come looking for my little sister, Tsukiko. I have looked everywhere for her and this seems like the only place left she would be. Have you seen her?" Ichigo tugged nervously at the top of his shihakushou and gave a slight gulp. Now he was done for. As if punishment from Urahara was bad enough, now her emperor brother had shown his face. He was going to be ripped to pieces and used as cat food.

"Ermmm, well yes…" Kenji's eyes lit up with happiness.

"Thank the heavens, she is alright! She is going to be in so much trouble when she gets back but right now I must speak with her, take me to her immediately."

"That can be a bit of a problem." Urahara chipped in. Kenji's face suddenly turned deadly serious.

"What do you mean 'a bit of a problem'?"

"Well, you see, Kurosaki-san here had been looking after her-"

'_Way to shift it all over to me!__'_ Grumbled Ichigo.

"And some incidents occurred and well…"

"Well?" Kenji was getting more and more annoyed by this, just wanting to know where his kid sister was.

"She was kidnapped." Ichigo scrunched his eyes tightly shut, not knowing what this demon might do to him. Maybe just snap all his limbs off or do other demon things to him but it never came. He slowly opened his eyes and saw Kenji breathing deeply, trying to calm himself down but it seemed he wasn't angry at Ichigo but at Tsukiko.

"As I told her, something like this would happen but would she listen to me? Nooo! She can be so naïve. I hope she had not caused you any inconvenience, Kurosaki-san?"

Ichigo just shook his head, still a bit in shock.

"Anyway, do you have any ideas where she has been taken to?"

"We do, we will be going to go there and get her back anytime soon."

"Why not now?"

"It takes a while to get there." said Ichigo

"I see. Well, I would like to know who took her?"

"Who?"

"Yes. Who took my sister? Do you know what kind of despicable person would take her so I can go there and beat them to a pile of dust." Ichigo mentally snorted, quite looking forward to seeing that and was all too happy to give up the name of the kidnapper.

"Yeah, I know, it was a spiritual being called an arrancar and his name is…"

* * *

"Grimmjow…shouldn't you be looking after your pet?" Szayel, who just happened to be passing through the corridor came across the moody espada.

"What's it to you, anyway she's asleep so she'll be fine-" A scream came from his room and rang in his ears.

"Doesn't sound like she's asleep." Chuckled Szayel, watching Grimmjow dash back to his room.

The door flung open and he ran inside, wondering if she probably hurt herself but then he heard another scream, but it was more of a screech.

'_Where did that come from?__'_ He looked down and saw a huge bundle of bed covers moving around on the floor in a desperate fashion, screeching away. He felt something underneath his foot and thinking it was some rubbish, he starting scraping it across the floor, trying to get it off but in doing so, strangely, the screeching noise got worse.

'_What IS that?!__'_ Finally looking down, the rubbish under his foot, just so happened to be a certain someone's precious tail.

"Oh shit." He pulled the covers and saw her lying on her back with tears in her eyes.

"What do you think you are doing?! You hurt my tail, you imbecile!" She said angrily, gently stroking her trampled tail.

"Well ya shouldn't be on the floor then should ya! What was ya screaming about anyway?" She quickly went all quiet and coy.

"Nothing." Like she was going to tell him that she had a scary nightmare involving a evil blood sucking bunny rabbit.

Struggling to get off the floor, he scooped her up yet again off the floor and placed her back in the bed before grabbing Gin's Bag of Goodies and headed off to the bathroom. **Number 4** on the list; **make her a nice bath**, seemed rightly appropriate right now.

Taking out some pungent smelling thing (a pink bath bomb to be precise), he looked over at it in disgust. Why women put those smelly things in their baths was beyond him. Turning on the taps, the water gushing out, creating billows of hot steam as it started to fill up. He hoped now this would calm her down and be a kind of apology for stepping on her tail. He turned off the tap and dropped the bath bomb in water, amazed as started to fizz about and turn the water a rose pink colour. Pulling out more things from the bag, he dotted some scented candles around the place and lit them up.

'_As if it didn__'__t smell enough already!__'_ He thought.

"Alright woman, bath time!" He strode out the bathroom and towards the side of the bed. Turning on her side to glare at him above the covers.

"Don't give me that look."

"You hurt my tail." Her voice muffled from the covers

"I know that and I'm sorry…do ya want me to kiss it better?" Tracing circles onto top of her head with his finger. Her face started to heat up and she swatted his finger away.

"N-No."

"Come on then, your bath is ready." He was getting ready to pick her up again but she just waved him away and began gently sliding off the bed.

"I'm here to help ya know."

"I do not need help." Feet touched the carpet, ready to walk on her own but her feet had other plans, like going to sleep. She fell forward, going to connect with the floor but was caught by Grimmjow.

"Don't need help?" Smug grin on his face. Tsukiko grumbled under her breath and let herself be carried to the bathroom.

"Wow. It is so nice." She said as he placed her down on the ground.

"Yeah…nice." There was an long silence. A very long silence as neither of them moved an inch, until Tsukiko finally said something.

"Are you not going to leave?"

"Nah, hoping to watch ya get undressed." He said with a dirty smirk.

"You are the most lecherous, undignified man I have ever come into contact with in all my life." She said in complete disgust.

"Calm down, I was joking." _'__No I wasn__'__t__'_

"I was waiting for ya to check the water. See if it is to the lady's satisfaction." He said in a mock servant style way.

"Oh, right." She leaned over the bath edge, unwittingly giving Grimmjow a nice angle of her behind and slowly lowered her finger into the pretty coloured water. No sooner had the very tip of her finger touched the surface of the water, she retracted it again very quickly.

"It is scorching hot Grimmjow, did you not put any cold water in this?"

"Cold water?" He looked at her slightly strangely. To him, the water seemed fine, it was the temperature water he used to shower in but it seems they have different opinions on what 'hot' was.

"Yes, cold water."

"Of course not, it's fine like it is."

"Unless you want me to boil like a wildeboar stew."

'_Wildeboar? What the hell is that?__'_ Questioned Grimmjow. It was probably some demon nonsense.

"Fine, here, I'll put in some cold water. Ya fussy princess." He remarked, turning on the tap to allow the cold water to pour in. She gave him a subtle glare behind his back, not liking his 'fussy princess' remark. She was not fussy, just particular about certain things.

"Alright, that should be it. If ya need anything, I'll be just sitting on the couch." He said to her before leaving the bathroom, letting her enjoy a relaxing moment of peace and quiet.

_**Waaay too long after she went in**_

Teeth were grating angrily, his fists were clenched so tightly they had turned white, his face was like a ticking time-bomb, showing his annoyance. It had been ages since she had been in there. He was being kind, since she was ill and let her take her time to relax but this was just taking the piss! He needed to use the bathroom. He snapped. He didn't care if she was ill or not, he needed to use the damn bathroom! Jumping off the couch, he strode angrily to the bathroom door and banged on it.

"Woman! Get out the bath! Ya been in there for fucking ages!"

No response.

"Are ya listening to me?!"

Still no response.

"Ohh, so it's like that now is it?! After I've been looking after you, slaving away in the kitchen to make you a decent meal, which ya splattered all over me, then forcing me to grovel to bloody Gin! GIN of all people! AND I run you a nice bath and THIS is how you repay me?! With silence?! You are so fucking disrespectful for a princess ya know that?!" He sighed after his little rant and guess what…

STILL no response.

"Alright, that's it." He didn't care that he was going to barge in there, he had knocked, she didn't reply so this was how things were going to go down. The door flew open and strode over to the side of the bath but stopped. She was breathing lightly, her head was almost submerged in the water as she was in a little slumber. But that was not all he was looking at as he could just make out the outline of her body in the water. Dirty thoughts were flying thick and fast in his mind. Seemingly feeling like someone was indeed watching her, she suddenly stirred and opened up her eyes, only to be greeted with Grimmjow's face, his mouth slightly ajar and his eyes fixed on her. Just to complete his whole 'storming into the bathroom to look her naked like a dirty old man.' he unconsciously licked his lips. She was still a bit dazed but then realised that, yes, he _was_ in the bathroom and yes, he _was_ indeed looking at her naked. In horror, she began splashing water at him, waking him up from his little fantasies.

"You dirty man!! Get out! GET OUT!" She barely managed to shout at him, trying to hide herself unsuccessfully, whilst continuing to splash him.

"Hey! Stop that!"

"GET OUT!!" With the flick of her hand, he was forcibly moved from the side of the bath, through the doorway and hitting the wall of the bedroom hard, the door closing itself. He rubbed the back of his head, wondering what just happened. He knew for sure that it wasn't that stupid Panther Paw of complete and utter obliteration that he had come to be so familiar with, because that really, really hurt. Maybe it was some other trick of hers.

'_Oh well, it was all worth it to see her naked again.'_ He smirked to himself.

* * *

She finally emerged from the bathroom, instinctively clutching at her clothes as she made her way to the bed, her eyes never left Grimmjow who was lounging on the couch, still fuming at his little antics.

"There's no need to be like that. It's not as if I'm gonna go over there and rip ya clothes off…no matter how tempting that is." She gave him a horrified look and clambered into bed, pulling the covers right up to her chin. No way was he going to get anywhere near her body.

"Ok then, time for ya to take ya medicine." He said, rummaging around in Gin's Bag of Goodies (_It seemed to be like a never-ending bag of goodies Grimmjow had pondered earlier)_ and found a whole heap of bottles of medicine and plodded over to the bed. Her breath hitched up and eyed him with suspicion.

"Man, which one am I suppose to give ya?" He said, looking over at least six different bottles.

"Oh well, might as well give ya a bit of each one, just to make sure ya get better quicker." What a stupid and dangerous idea but this was Grimmjow we are talking about. He has no idea of measures and quantities. Bottle after bottle, he opened it up and ever gave her a couple of spoonfuls of pink liquid or a couple of pills. If it was being drugged up on medicine or just being ill, she let out a long yawn and began settling herself down to sleep.

"I'll be back later to check on ya." He got up off the bed and was making his way to the door. She suddenly bolted up right with a scared look on her face.

"Ah…ermm…w-w-wait!! Please…" He paused and looked over at her.

"What?"

"I…ermm…Can…ermmm…ahhh…" She stumbled around with her words and began slowly sinking back down on the mattress and hid herself under the covers. She could hear his footsteps getting closer and felt herself sink down as he sat on the side of the bed.

"What was it?"

She mumbled something under the covers, hoping he didn't hear but he did.

"What was that? I couldn't quite hear you." He said slyly, cupping his hand to his ear.

"C-Can you hold my hand please?" and suddenly her hand poked its way from underneath the covers.

"I thought you didn't want me to touch you or be anywhere near ya?" Gosh how he was being so smug right now. He was right but she couldn't really tell him why she suddenly wanted to hold his hand. She thought it was too embarrassing. When she was little, her brother cruelly told her an extremely scary demon folk tale just to tease her but he never expected to mentally scar her for life. Ever since she had been afraid to sleep alone, she always needed to be reassured by letting one of her servants sleep in the same room, or by cuddling her pet tiger _(Yes, she has a pet tiger called Mr. M Stripy, or Stripes as she fondly calls him.)_ But the only living being present here was Grimmjow.

"I-It is the fever talking."

"Sure it is." He said unconvinced. She violently blushed underneath the covers but then felt herself encased in another layer, a very heavy layer and then realised that Grimmjow was not satisfied with hand holding but wanted to hold her, the whole of her.

"I said to hold my hand."

"Why stop at holding ya hand, hmmm?"

"But-"

"I thought ya going to sleep?" She could sense that stupid smug smirk of his and huffed indignantly and settled down to sleep, secretly happy that he wasn't holding her hand. This was far much better.

**Awww, Grimmjow's being caring for once. Poor Ichigo being tortured by the brilliant Urahara. Anyways tell me what ya think the chapter, very very much appreciated as always. **

**Next chapter: Arguments arise to which true opinions come to light and the pair decide to try a day in one another's shoes to see if they can understand one another better. Will it work or will they just annoy each other even more?**


	11. Role Reversal

**Sorry I'm late updating!! Life has been hectic but anyway, Hope you all had a great Christmas and New Year! Thanks for the reviews as always and thanks for all the new readers flooding in, coming to read this weird story lol but anyway back to the craziness of Hueco Mundo and a bit of warning, there may be some serious stuff in there, added for effect, I guess lol!**

**Chapter 11: Role Reversal**

_**Days after Tsukiko's Illness**_

It had been many days since Tsukiko was ill and now she was as fit as a fiddle. After a thorough diagnosis from an timid arrancar nurse (_it would have been a brief check up but Grimmjow was very insistent that all possibilities were explored_), it turned out to be just the strange atmosphere of Hueco Mundo which made her feel so ill.

Grimmjow was not impressed.

He was certain it was an infectious cold, a disgusting disease, a deadly virus, something exciting but no…it was just _being_ in Hueco Mundo, and her just being a wimp. How can you get ill from being in a different place? He had thought about that many times, thinking it was just ridiculous. The fact she was part demon made the fact even more stupid. Demon, in his mind, were suppose to be fearsome, evil creatures that couldn't be harmed. Tsukiko was just something else all together.

Well now she had recovered and was having an interesting conversation with Halibel. Of course, she had slipped out of the boudoir without Grimmjow knowing. He would have never let her go out and about there by herself, let alone let her talk to Halibel. She had grown quite fond of the quiet espada woman because she seemed more approachable than anyone else and seemed to be the only decent woman about the place. Her and Gin only, everyone else was a no go.

**Aizen** was nice but scared her slightly because he had a suspicious smile always plastered on his face and he always appeared out of nowhere, scaring her right out of her skin.

**Tousen** was always off doing other things and mumbling something about peace and justice. Very strange.

**Ulquiorra** was…well… Ulquiorra and he just ignored her anytime they passed one another.

**Nnoitra**…no comment.

She had visited **Stark** once but he only said hello before falling straight to sleep.

**Szayel**, **Yami**, **Zommari** and **Barragan**. She rarely saw them since Szayel was in his lab (_She could sometimes hear a quite disturbing cackling noise, which she could only assume was his laugh_) Yami was in his room, Zommari was always meditating and the Barragan was too scary so she never disturbed him.

So it only left Halibel.

"Halibel-san, pardon my asking but why are you the only woman around here?" Halibel gave a little sigh from behind her large collar.

'_Why indeed.'_ she thought to herself before answering,

"Aizen-sama may have came to this place and given us new strength but he had forgotten to give some of that power to women. I am the only woman espada here."

"Really? Wow. It must be really hard being around so many men with no other women espadas to talk to." Tsukiko was impressed.

"Not really. The others are very arrogant and think they are the best but…they really aren't." Tsukiko allowed herself to giggle a bit. So much like Kenji-Nii. He could be very, very arrogant at times and liked to fight for the sake of it. He had calmed down since becoming emperor but there were times when he acted like a spoiled five year old.

"Tsukiko?" Halibel's unintentional commanding voice snapped her out of a daze that she never realised she was in.

"Oh, my apologises." But the sad look which flashed across her face for a brief moment did not go unnoticed by the observant Halibel.

"Missing home, I presume?" Tsukiko nodded her head slowly. She was desperately missing home. Never in her life had she spent so much time away from the palace before. It was a strange but very uncomfortable experience.

"You know, once Grimmjow has put an idea in his mind, it would be almost impossible to stop him carrying it out. So I am pretty sure that you will have to make yourself comfortable here because I really think that you will be here for a long time." Halibel stated, thinking that it would clear up any misconceptions for Tsukiko. Sweat dropped down the princess's bemused face.

'_If she is trying to cheer me up, then it is not helping.'_

_**Storming about the corridors angrily**_

He was angry! Grimmjow Jaegerjaques was not having the nicest of days. He had been woken up extra earlier to go to yet another pointless espada meeting, or as he now sees it, _**'Blowing more hot air up Aizen's ungrateful ass time!'**_ Bitch-Face Ulquiorra was getting on his nerves much more than usual, making subtle antagonising faces at him, which caused Grimmjow to cause a scene in the meeting (_Him threaten to tear out Ulquiorra's throat and trying to clamber over the table to do so_) and an embarrassing reprimand from The Big Cheese in front of everyone, which only made his mood even worse. On the **Grimmjow Angermeter**, he was about _**'Mildly angry: for example someone replacing Pantera with a stick'**_kind of annoyed anger. He had come back from the 'meeting' to see his little kitten but found the room empty and Gin in the doorway teasing him.

Now he was storming around Las Noches in an annoyed, angry state _**(Grimmjow Angermeter-Very Annoyed-Orange Haired Shinigami beating him in a fight)**_, pushing arrancars through walls if they so much as passed him along the corridor, looking for his lost kitten.

"I know but you have to stand up for yourself, be assertive."

Grimmjow's feet ground to a halt upon hearing a feminine voice. Not the one he wanted, quite the opposite but he knew that if that annoying woman was there then the woman he was looking for wouldn't be far behind. He silently shifted to the corner of the corridor as he heard the footsteps stop completely.

"I have never really been assertive. No one takes me seriously when I try. They just laugh." A sad meek voice replied.

'_That's the woman. Why is she forever talking to that stuck bitch Halibel? I'm the only person she should need to talk to. ME!'_

"Well you don't seem to show any other emotion other than happy, which I find very confusing considering you are holed up with moody Grimmjow all the time. Spending just a minute with him makes me want to stab myself repeatedly in the eye."

'_Well why don't ya do it then?! I'll be more than happy to help!'_ Grimmjow thought angrily to himself.

"Yes, but I guess that is how Grimmjow is, he cannot help it-"

"There you go. Excusing him like that. Stop defending his disgraceful behaviour. I have heard of the things that he has done and you just let him get away with it." Halibel was getting annoyed at Tsukiko. She couldn't comprehend how on earth Tsukiko could stand and defend the man after all the things he had done. Had she lost her mind?!

On the other side of the corner, Grimmjow was giving it all he had not to go round and tear Halibel to pieces. How dare she try and corrupt his woman! How dare she!

'_The woman would never bad mouth me. Just you watch Halibel, she loves me, so she wouldn't even think about-'_

"You are right."

'_I knew- WHAT?! What did she just say?!'_ Grimmjow's hands were holding onto the wall for dear life at the shock that was just delivered to him.

"You are right, Halibel. I am…I am tired of being treated like some kind of plaything to him. I am tired of all this!" Her voice suddenly raised up, surprising Halibel and Grimmjow. It seemed now that her pent up anger was finally starting to come out in a blaze of fireworks.

"He kidnaps me and thinks that I have to just deal with it?! Of course not!! After my brother, I will be the 27th Empress of The Elite Starlight Sky Panther Demon Clan, I cannot prepare for my responsibilities stuck in this wasteland!!" Anger just oozed out of her now she was on a roll. Even Halibel had a worried look spread over her eyes, wishing she just kept her mouth shut.

"Stupid Grimmjow has been nothing but rude to me in my time in the Mortal World. He does not care about anybody but himself! He only does things for his own purpose, not caring about anybody else!!"

Said 'Stupid Grimmjow' was getting worked up. Blood was boiling at being called stupid by his so called 'cute kitten'. **Grimmjow Angermeter-Much more than annoyed- Pantera being melted down to a blob of metal**

'_So she is showin' her true colours now is she?'_ His cerulean eyes narrowed as he listened some more.

"Stupid Grimmjow thinks that he can do whatever he wants, hurt whoever he wants and get away with it, well let me tell you. I, Sasaki Tsukiko, will never let that him do that to me anymore because he is nothing more than a pigheaded-"

Hand was slowly forming into a fist. **Angermeter-Fuming- Being forced to kiss Gin**

"Arrogant-"

Fist shaking against the wall. **Angermeter-Red Hot Steaming Anger- Being Ulquiorra's WIFE! **

"Self-Centred-"

Cracks starting to appear on the wall. **Angermeter-Off the Scale!!- Finding out he was Aizen's long lost son, Gin was his uncle AND he was a HUMAN!!**

"MONSTER!!"

Tsukiko narrowly missed being hit by flying debris from the wall thanks to Halibel quickly pulling her out the way in time, as Grimmjow's anger got the better of him and had powerfully punched through the wall. The princess slowly opened her eyes to see vibrant blue hair. Grimmjow.

"GRIMM…jow…I…oh…." She had leapt out of Halibel's grip to proceed to give Grimmjow a piece of her mind while she was still on a roll but when he turned to look at her, she was utterly deflated and afraid.

"H-Hello…lookiamsorryforleavingtheroomijustwantedtotalktohalibel." Her flustered stream of words had no affect on Grimmjow because he just looked like an angry statue, just glaring at her.

"I-it seems that you are not in a g-g-good mood. I-I will go with Halibel and-ARGH!" She had tried to back away from him, backing away towards the safe haven of Halibel (_Well if he did try something, she would easily stop him. Halibel had told her she was the third espada but she did say that she could beat Grimmjow even if she wasn't an arrancar._) but she never reached the safe haven because Grimmjow had became animated, thrown her over his shoulder and sonidoed back to his room, leaving Halibel _really_ wishing she kept her mouth shut.

_**Back in Grimmjow's Boudoir**_

The door burst open and Grimmjow immediately threw Tsukiko onto the bed in a very undignified manner. She just lay there in a heap, thinking what on earth he was going to do. She had heard from many people that he was unpredictable but she thought that in a good unpredictable way, like giving gifts for no reason, taking her places out of the blue (_Alright he had done that…but that was kidnap!_) but now this must be the bad type of unpredictable. She was wondering whether or not she should say something but Grimmjow decided that for her.

"So that's what ya think of me is it?!" Tsukiko just stayed silent, very ashamed of herself for saying such cruel things.

"But then again, you're a princess, so saying things like that to me doesn't bother ya!!"

'_That is not true.'_ She thought.

"Little princesses think they're above everyone else, look down at them from their sky high thrones like the rest of the world is trash."

Tsukiko stopped feeling regretful and started to listen properly to what he was saying.

'_Wait a minute…I do not like where he is going with this.'_

She was a princess yes, but never did she think she was better than anyone else. Sure she has a giant palace, gets the best food in the whole kingdom, clothes so expensive it would make your eyes weep, the best of everything but never had she allowed herself to be conceited, quite the opposite she resented having the best of everything.

"Oh sure, ya probably used to getting whatever ya want, crying to people when things don't go your way…"

'_How…that is not true!!' _Her anger was starting to come back again as the preposterous accusations kept coming out his mouth like there was no tomorrow.

Grimmjow turned on his heel and approached the bed, the weight he exuded from his hands as he pressed it into the mattress, made her sink slightly into it.

"Well it ain't gonna happen here, princess!! Those days are over! Ya gonna be here for the rest of ya life ,so ya better get used to not getting what ya want and to do what **I** say from now on, ya whiny, fussy, self-centred, little bit-"

_**Smack!**_

It was like time had stopped. Grimmjow's face was stuck to a surprised one with a lovely hand print on his left cheek. Tsukiko still had her hand up and her purple eyes were blazing with indescribable anger. Still finding it hard to realise what had just happened, Grimmjow put a hand on his sore cheek and rubbed it.

"You…you…slapped me? You slapped me?! Me?! Grimmjow Jaegerjaques! On the face!"

"Yes…I did?" Tsukiko was surprised at herself for doing that. She never knew she had that in her. She had just slapped the 6th espada right on the cheek. She just _slapped_ a man, who has a sword, on the face.

'_Oh…no…' _Was the only thing running through her mind. Her arms was suddenly crushed to her sides as a positively fuming Grimmjow had his hands on her arms, glaring at her.

'_Oh no, he is going to kill me. He is going to do it. He is going to kill me! I have not even had a chance to say goodbye to my brother, or Ichigo or Uncle Urahara, or Orihime and everyone else. Who will carry on the Sasaki legacy when my brother passes on if I am dead? I cannot die here. I will not be buried in a wasteland! I have to be buried underneath the giant Crimson Tree of Honesty next to mother and father and… oh my goodness. I. Am. Actually. Going. To. Die!'_

"Hey woman, wake the hell up already. Stupid Gin wants to talk to us!" Hands were clapped right in front of her face, scaring her half to death.

"W-What…?" She looked up to see Grimmjow, with his arms folded and Gin smiling at her.

"What?! How much longer ya gonna sit there, babbling nonsense about me killing you and being buried in some weird place." She instantly clasped her hand to her mouth in horror. All that she was thinking was actually being said out loud. He sighed and flopped down on the bed next to her. Gin pulled up a seat in front of the pair, beaming happily at them both.

"Alright, Welcome to Dr Gin Ichimaru's Counselling session…well not so much counselling, just me givin ya some advice…oh yes, Aunty Gin's Espada Advice Time. So Grimm-chan, wha' seems to be the problem?"

"This is stupid! I don't need your-"

"Oh yeah ya do! Now tell me ya problem." Grimmjow groaned in his hands but proceeded to tell of his problem.

"OK, I like Princess here-"

"Love."

"Eh?"

"It's love, Grimm-chan, get it right." Gin smirked at how easy it was to wind Grimmjow up.

"What the?! Alright, LOVE! I LOVE Princess here and all I wanna do is spend the rest of my existence with her and all she doin is complaining about it!"

"How…How dare you!" Tsukiko said in astonishment. This man was something else.

"Oh Tsukiko-chan, please tell me of your problem." Tsukiko narrowed her eyes at Grimmjow before looking at Gin.

"I thought I loved Grimmjow but it seems that I had been mislead. He told Ichigo that he only got close to me to get to him-" Gin tutted and shook his head.

"He then kidnaps me and holds me prisoner-"

"I don't hold ya prisoner!" Grimmjow interrupted

"Well then, let me go home." She challenged Grimmjow.

"…No."

"See?" She said in exasperation. "But he just does not understand at all. His acts rashly and does not think about anybody but himself."

"Well sorry, that's who I am so ya better get used to it."

"But…it is not nice, Grimmjow!" She didn't really know how to counter that.

"HAZAAR!" Gin suddenly jumped up from his seat. Tsukiko and Grimmjow looked at him in confusion.

"I know exactly what ya problems are and Aunty Gin has the solution."

"Y-You do?" Tsukiko said, very unsure. Grimmjow was even more sceptical, because this is Gin we are talking about here.

"Yeah! Now please both of you follow me, there is much work to do."

_**Hours later**_

"Ermm, Gin-san, are you sure this will work?" Slender fingers tugged down on a short, white, zipped up jacket.

"Of course, before ya know it, ya both will be aware of the problems ya both have and then be able to solve it." Gin patted her on the back.

"Yes but…is it really necessary for me to be dressing like him?" Tsukiko pointed at her attire. It was the arrancar uniform but Gin had Szayel make some modifications (_Scientist by night, clothes maker by…erm…night_) Since Grimmjow wore a open jacket, it had caused problems because well, she was a girl so he made a jacket, which was similar to Halibel's but the collar didn't cover her face. It was a nice neat shirt collar and the top of her chest was showing. The sleeves of the jacket was loose and rolled up to her elbows. They tried to fit a blue wig on her head but it didn't fit because she had so much hair so Halibel dyed it blue with temporary dye (_Thanks to Gin bring it back from the World of The Living…why, is anybody's guess_) and made a spiky ponytail with a spiky fringe. Her eyes had also been changed to blue thanks to Szayel's special contact lenses.

"Gin, why are we waiting for Grimmjow?"

"Cuz he needs to change too, ya know. Szaaayel!!!" Gin knocked on the lab door and no sooner in doing that, the door creaked open and out appeared Szayel, wiping his hands together.

"My work…is done." He pronounced. Tsukiko and Gin waited in anticipation.

A sandal clad foot emerged.

Tsukiko and Gin held their breath.

Purple eyes glistened.

The pair were holding their breath so much they almost passed out.

"This is fuckin ridiculous!" An obviously annoyed voice came as the rest of Grimmjow emerged out from Szayel's lab. Gin was clapping joyously and congratulating Szayel on his fantastic work. Tsukiko, on the hand, was at a loss. Her face was heating up so badly, it could have been used as a radiator.

Grimmjow was looking…

"Very hot, I know I try." Szayel stated, smirking at Gin.

Since Grimmjow refused to release his sword, Gin had made Szayel turn Grimmjow into some cat looking person. Grimmjow's blue hair was long and flowing (_It would have been sprayed white, if he hadn't had sprayed Szayel with it first and threatening to do some terrible things to him_) Very authentic looking white ears and a tail were placed on him. To complete the look, he wore a very loose looking dark blue yukata, exposing his nicely toned chest. Grimmjow's frowning face scanned around and set themselves on a deeply embarrassed Tsukiko. He gave her a little wink and she was sure her heart just melted there and then.

'_Wow. He-He looks like…'_

"AKIRA!!" she ran at him but then suddenly stopped when seeing everyone's confused faces.

"Who the fuck is this Akira guy?!" Grimmjow fumed at her.

"Errr, nobody." She wasn't going to tell him that 'Akira' was a demon version of a fairytale prince/hero from her favourite childhood story book. She kept telling everyone that one day she was going to marry him, even though everyone had told her that he was a fictional character but now standing right in front of her was the embodiment of her fairytale prince.

"Anyway, time to get this started." Gin clapped his hands to get their attention.

"For today, Grimm-chan, you'll be Tsukiko-chan and Tsukiko-chan, you'll be Grimm-chan. By being one another ya might get to realise how each other feels, so ya have to act exactly like one another and speaking of that, Grimm-chan, hand over ya sword."

"Wha-WHA?! Nah! It stays with-HEY!" When Grimmjow was distracted, Gin had quickly snuck up and took away his Pantera and handed it to Szayel.

"Take care of it." Szayel nodded his head and took it with him into his lab. Grimmjow looked on the verge of blasting angry ceros at Gin.

"Oh, that's right, Tsukiko-chan, ya need a sword, because believe me, ya not Grimm-chan without a sword, I'll just ask Szayel-"

"It is alright, I have my own." She said. Grimmjow and Gin did a double take. All this time she had a sword?! But where was it?

"Please just give me a moment." They watched silently in amazement as she drew a circle in mid-air, which then glowed a faint green colour. She removed the necklace she had from around her neck and placed it in the middle of the circle. Suddenly the circle turned pale green and a click sound was heard.

"Hmm, sounds a bit rusty, since I haven't used it in many years." Grimmjow dumbly nodded at her. The two men watched as she pulled open the circle like a door and proceeded to nose around inside, like it was a huge vault.

"Wow! This is so nostalgic. I have not seen these things in years." She said from inside the circle, rummaging around inside.

'_She is full of surprises.'_ Thought Grimmjow

"Ah Ha! Found it!" She proclaimed, clambering out of the mysterious vault. Snapping her fingers, it closed itself and simply vanished.

"Oooo, Tsukiko-chan, that sword is very nice." Cooed Gin, looking over it in admiration. The sword was pure white except for the thin black stripe running down the side of the sheath and the black tassels dangling from the hilt.

"Ah, it is not that nice." She played off his compliment before slipping her sword behind her back Matsumoto-style.

"So are we gonna do this already or not-"

"Ah, Ah, Ah, Grimm-chan, it has already begun so I suggest ya so being so rude and start speakin' politely." Grinned Gin. Grimmjow grimaced before taking a deep breath and saying,

"Yes, of course, Gin-san." He said the most polite voice, shocking both Gin and Tsukiko.

"And so ya not confused at what ya should be doin', I made a list for each of you on the characteristics that you should have." Gin gave the pair a piece of paper each to refer to.

"Alright, be off with you. And remember this is goin' to help with ya problems."

"Y-Yeah, yeah…" Tsukiko muttered at him, already getting into role.

"Come on." Tsukiko motioned for Grimmjow to follow her like some kind of animal. He begrudgingly obeyed and the pair slinked away.

_**Back at Grimmjow's Boudoir**_

The pair took the time to look over their lists in a strange silence.

'_I guess some of the things on here might not be a problem but some…' _Tsukiko thought over whilst looking over her list;

**The Key Features Of Grimmjow**

**He is a very angry, unpredictable guy. **

**Loves flirting with any girl (**_**well it would be guy for you**_**)**

**Doesn't care about anything or anybody**

**Hates everybody, ESPECIALLY Ulquiorra**

**Foul mouthed**

**Most of all, he LOVES to fight**

'_Well at least I will get to walk around without the fear of Grimmjow finding out.'_

Grimmjow, on the other hand, was not impressed. Everything was the opposite for him.

'_This fuckin' stinks!'_

**The Key Features of Tsukiko**

**She is a kind, gentle girl.**

**Doesn't like being touched in an inappropriate manner**

**Cares about everything and everybody**

**Extremely polite**

'_This is gonna be hell!'_

Grimmjow looked up from his list to see Tsukiko looking at him in a dreamy sort of way. He raised an eyebrow at her questioningly because he has never seen her look like that before.

"What the he-" Then he remember Tsukiko never says things like that. "I mean, is there something wrong, Tsukiko." Before he knew it, she was sitting by his side, stroking his long blue mane.

'_What? She never done that before. Does she have a thing for extremely long hair or something?'_ Her head resting on his shoulder, continuing to stroke his hair.

"What are you doing?" He asked, secretly liking this sort of affection from her. Tsukiko noticed that he wasn't putting up any resistance so now it was time for her to tease him, just like he does to her.

"I'm just strokin' ya hair…Akira." she sighed wistfully. Grimmjow stiffened at being called that name.

"Would you get off me please?" He said through gritted teeth, shifting away from her but she only shifted towards him and continued to tease him.

"Where ya goin? Can't I just touch my darling…"

'_Oh God, YES!'_ Thought Grimmjow. Tsukiko leaned up to his ear.

"Akira."

'_Oh God, NO!'_ Grumpily Grimmjow shifted away but his hand missed the side of the couch and ended up falling back, with Tsukiko landing on top of him. Now if Grimmjow was supposed to be Tsukiko, the situation would have ended like this:

'_**What are you doing? Get off of me!'**__**and he threw her off of him, glaring at being touched in such a manner.**_

But it never, they just lay there staring into one another's colour altered eyes.

'_I could stay like this all day. Now if I can just get my hand round her back…'_ Grimmjow was plotting on how to grab a hold of any part of her and somehow Tsukiko knew. She could see it in his eyes and was very disappointed in him. Giving him a cold hard stare, she pushed herself off him and walked towards the door.

"Stay here and no wanderin' around… I have things to do…Akira" She said so frostily that the room would have frozen over, before closing the door behind her. Grimmjow was just left there, wondering what the hell he should do and who was this Akira guy?!

_**Couple of hours later, wandering around the corridors**_

He had tried. Tried so hard but he had to get out of the room before he went insane. He can now kind of understand why she felt like a prisoner, being stuck in the room alone for most of the time while he was off, roaming freely about Las Noches.

'_It's for her own safety. There's a lot of freaks around here who would love to get their greasy paws on her.'_ So that's why he was off around the place. As he passed, arrancars had to double take and stare to make sure that the person that they were actually looking was _indeed_ Grimmjow and not some weird stranger who got lost there. The female population were literally throwing themselves at him, to which he responded by stepping over them and continue his search but he didn't have to search for much longer though.

**Bang!!**

The wall to his left just blew apart and someone amongst all the dust was crouching down slightly. His fears were getting the best of him as he dashed towards the person.

"Tsukiko!" He continued to run but as the dust settled, he slowly ground to a halt and a look of confusion spread on his face.

"Bitch-Fa- ermm Ulquiorra?" It was indeed Ulquiorra crouching down on the floor but he soon dusted himself off.

"Grimmjow-"

"Oh there ya are. Are we gonna have another round cuz that was so much fun!" From the hole in the wall, Tsukiko stepped out, looking quite dishevelled but with a smirk he had never seen on her face before. Her eyes darted over to Grimmjow.

"What ya doin' out the room? Go on get back-Hey! Let me go! Do ya know who ya grabbin' mister?"

"Yeah, I'm grabbin' a loony girl takin' on fights that she shouldn't even consider takin'. He's the 4th espada, ya can't go around messin around with him-" Grimmjow whispered angrily into her ear but his lips were sealed shut with a single girly finger pressed against his surprised lips.

"Shush, shush, shush. I am just having some fun. Now please go back to the room, if we are doing this to solve our problems then please do as I say."

"Do as ya say?! I won't let no girl boss me around!"

"Go back to the room, now!" Her shiny blade was held up towards his neck.

"I suggest doing as she says, Grimmjow," said Ulquiorra. "You don't want to know where she nearly ended up stabbing me." Grimmjow was surprised Ulquiorra was helping him out but then again Ulquiorra just got slammed through a wall by a princess and was implying that a very nasty injury had almost befallen him and would happen to Grimmjow too, so he better not test her patience.

"Fine." Grimmjow pushed away her blade angrily and stomped away. Tsukiko sighed.

'_I guess that is how he feels when I wander off by myself. Annoyed.'_ She turned her attention back to Ulquiorra and smiled happily at him.

"Let's do another round, shall we?" Ulquiorra started to mentally sweat at the prospect of more torture.

* * *

"Stupid Tsukiko, she's takin this way too far now!" Grimmjow angrily scuffed his sandal on the floor in irritation.

"But…" He suddenly stopped in his tracks and thought for a moment.

'_She's actin' like me. Is that how I really act? Some rude, horny bastard, who likes to pick random fights…? NAH!'_ He started to chuckle to himself at the ridiculous idea.

"I always knew you were mental Grimmjow but you have finally proved me right." Grimmjow's purple eyes narrowed as he turned his head around to see Halibel looking at him.

"Whaadya-"

"I wouldn't talk to me like that, since Gin is currently watching us right now and you don't want to know what he has planned if you don't go along with his little therapy session." He really didn't so he put on the **'kind, sweet, Tsukiko' **act.

"What is it that you want, Halibel…Halibel-san." Halibel smirked underneath her collar. It was so much fun to see Grimmjow being polite for once AND to see how clearly he hates it. It was like a dream come true.

"Well, since Tsukiko spends time talking with me, it is only right that you have to as well…don't look at me like that Grimmjow, I don't want to talk to you either but I guess I will have to tell you the error of your ways. Follow me please." Halibel turned her back to him and walked away. Grimmjow mockingly copied her then quickly stopped, remember that Gin's eyes are everywhere so he quickly walked after her.

_**At a random resting area**_

The pair arrived at a deserted, spacious area which was only littered with a few white couches. It was like a large living room. The pair sat down on a couch with an obvious distance between them.

"I must say Grimmjow, you have presented yourself quite nicely for once." Halibel gave Grimmjow a quick once over in approval.

"Why, thank you."

'_I know ya fancy me.'_ He thought to himself.

"So we don't have to be in each other's company for longer than is necessary, I will get straight to it. Grimmjow, your attitude has to change. You walk around oblivious to how she is feeling. She has told me so much about you and most are not good."

"Yes…"

'_What has the woman been telling this witch?'_

"I know that she doesn't want to be treated like a princess but you have to understand-" After that, Grimmjow just zoned out and stopped listening altogether. He couldn't even see Halibel's mouth so he wasn't sure at times whether she was still talking or not but he just maintained a look of interest and nodded his head every now and again.

'_I don't need to be lectured about how I should treat my woman. Everyone needs to butt out of my fuckin' love life!'_

"Grimmjow?"

"I am done. I am going back to the room."

"I hope for your sake you understood what I have told you." She called after him as he shifted away.

"Yes. Yes. I heard. Flowers, presents, kiss her every now and again, I get it." He said back before leaving the room.

"I never said that." Halibel said in confusion before rubbing a gloved hand over hair in exasperation.

_**The end of Gin's Role Reversal Therapy session: Back at Grimmjow's boudoir**_

It had finally ended but to Grimmjow it was nothing but a waste of time. Fancy dress and nothing more. His problems hadn't been solved at all. The door to the room creaked open and a tired looking Tsukiko slid in, loosely clutching onto her sword.

"Oh, you are here already, Grimmjow." She said wearily, placing her sword on the bed and proceeded to walk towards the bathroom but was suddenly grabbed round the waist.

"Man, I'm glad it's over. Biggest waste of time it was. Now it's time for bitter sweet revenge for having you boss me around all day." Tsukiko's fake blue eyes widened in horror. It was all a big game to him. Typical Grimmjow.

"How could you…"

"Huh?"

"How could you do this, Grimmjow?" She pulled away his arms and confronted him.

"Do what?" Maybe the fight with Ulquiorra's made her brain turn into scrambled egg.

"This was suppose to help us, help us understand each other better but you think this is all a big joke." Her anger was starting to come back and Grimmjow sensed it, so it was time he stomped down on that and remind who was boss around here.

"Now watch what your saying, woman-"

"NO! ENOUGH! I cannot take this anymore!" Tsukiko looked ready to tear out every last bit of her dyed hair in frustration.

"Everything is a joke to you. You really do not care about me, because if you did you would have taken it more seriously. I actually learnt why you do the things you do, tried to understand you but I think now it was all in vain."

"Hey-"

"No, let me speak! I need to say these things…I did not want to come here and it is hard for me to adjust here and not have any contact with my brother. You do not understand how I am feeling…" Those words seemed to be having some kind of affect of Grimmjow, like someone had thrown a switch in his brain. Seeing her so distressed and he was the cause of it, finally made him see some kind of sense. Instead of seeing her as his property, he was starting to see her as a person. Yeah she was still his property but his property now had feelings and needs of her own.

"I…just…I…just want…" she started wiping at her eyes as tears started to flow down her cheeks. Instinctively, Grimmjow pulled her close to him, wrapping his arms comfortingly around her like a comfort blanket.

"Why didn't ya just tell me?"

"I-I did try-" She protested but was smothered into his chest, almost trying to silence her.

"Shush, shush. It's alright now. But let me tell ya, I only keep ya in the room to protect ya. There are some sickos around here and I didn't want you come to any harm. I brought ya here because I was…afraid Kurosaki was gonna take ya away from me. I couldn't have that. I only do the things that I do because I care for ya, alright?! So I don't want ya complaining anymore and…I will be more understanding from now on." He heard her sniffling and trying to wipe her eyes with her hand.

"Ya still crying? Stop already, I've realised the error of my ways so stop crying over it."

"I was not crying over that…it is the contact lenses. There are really hurting my eyes." Grimmjow gritted his teeth in annoyance. He poured his heart out because he thought she was really upset but she was crying because of the contact lenses? He sighed and tilted her face up to face his.

"Alright, I'm gonna try take these out, so no squirming, OK?"

"OK, please hurry." She said in urgency.

"Ya know, ya should be angry more often, it was quite a turn on."

"G-Grimmjow!" Her face began to flush in embarrassment.

"Sorry but, it's true. But you're no better-stop moving ya head around!. Yeah, you're no better, I know ya liked me wearing that stuff, thinking naughty thoughts about me."

"T-That is not true-Ouch!" Tsukiko squirmed a bit as Grimmjow almost poked her eye out.

"Whatever." He managed to take out one of the contacts and focused his attention to the next one.

"Oh yeah, woman, so who's this 'Akira' guy you were getting all flustered about?" Tsukiko stiffened on the spot. She didn't really want her eye poked out in anger if she told him about her secret ideal husband.

"Ermmm…I will tell you later…"

**Thanks for reading! Comments, reviews etc, they always make my day.**

**Next chapter is the penultimate chapter and is gonna be more about Ichigo and the gang but Grimm and Tsukiko might make an appearance too!**

**Next chapter: Ichigo and gang finally arrive at Hueco Mundo and encounter some 'people' along the way, Kenji surprises the gang at every turn and why has he been nicknamed 'Kenji: The Panther Paw Master' and what's wrong with Grimmjow?**


	12. NOTICE!

**NOTICE!!**

Hey to all the readers and to the fans of my story.

I'm soooooo sorry for not updating quickly and I should have put up a hiatus notice because for some reasons, I just could not carry on with the story and couldn't find the direction of where to go with them BUT! I have now got my creativity back and as we speak I'm churning out a brand new chapter which will be out sometime next week!!

Thanks again to everyone who has taken the time to read my story and apologies for the extremely long wait!

Until next week!

**Pantera-33**


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